Royalties
by Anna Uzumaki
Summary: Those of royalty are always targeted, as young Naruto and Gaara have experienced. Trust should be had with ones family right? Wrong! But with best friends Sasuke & Neji & others they begin to cope, but trouble still brews within the lives of royalties.
1. Prince's & Princessess

**AN: **Hello people of Fanfiction! Well, here it is! My first version of a NaruSasu/SasuNaru fanfiction, YaY! I'll warn you now, this is NOT going to be some just 'Jump to the smut and lemon' story, I wanted to build up to all of that sweet and sourly goodness! I wanted this story to be just that 'A story' I wanted to delve into this made-up fantasy that came to me in a dream, so if you are not prepared to read through long chapters and limes, and possible strawberries, {due to the starting ages of the characters} Then turn back now! For those who love the thrill of a good build up, then to you all I say ENJOY! Let the feast begin!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter one**

**Princes' and Princesses**

"_TEME!_" The young sun-kissed, blonde haired, blue eyed prince yelled.

"Hmph, you lose _dobe_." The other pale skinned, raven haired, onyx eyed prince replied, with a smug smirk.

"You cheated Sasuke!" The young blonde prince yelled at the duck butt haired prince, who was now removing his fencing mask.

"I've done no such thing, Naruto." The raven prince smirked devilishly at the blue eyed prince, who was currently throwing his mask to the ground, tantrum bound.

"You did to!" Naruto exclaimed, "Sensei! That's a fault, why didn't you call it!" He continued and questioned his instructor, who had short black hair that was pulled into a high spiky ponytail and a goatee.

"Now now, young master, all is fair in the art of fencing. Though I must ask that you watch your language as well, what would his majesty the King have to say should he ever hear such slander come from the young master? Not to mention how the Queen should act." The young blonde's physical trainer reprimanded him.

"Hahahah,_ dobe_!" Sasuke laughed as Naruto was scolded.

"Do not think that you should not also behave yourself young sir, be it as you may not be on your kingdoms land, you should refrain from such language as well." Sasuke's personal, snake like, trainer scolded him as well.

"Yes, Orochimaru sensei." Sasuke sulked.

"Serves you right, _teme!_" Naruto piped.

"_AHEM!_" The blonde's trainer cleared his throat at his mocking.

"Sorry Asuma sensei…" Naruto sulked as well.

"Very well, now you two go get cleaned up. You have tutoring shortly." Asuma instructed the two sulking young princes'.

As they headed down the very elaborated castle halls' to the bathroom, they continued to insult each other and then started running down the halls, in an effort to see which one could make it to the bathroom first, they rounded a corner and slammed right into three of their friends who came to study. Two of which, fell to the floor with the two mischievous princes' the other had just barely dodged them.

"_OW!_" A grey eyed, brunette shouted as he rubbed his head, "Naruto and Sasuke, what are you running for?" He questioned them.

"_UGH_, that hurt!" The other brunette with red triangle family markings on his cheeks protested.

"Hahah, I'm sorry _prince_ Neji and _prince_ Kiba. I was just beating Sasuke to the bathrooms." Naruto explained to the two other young princes'.

"Hmph, you only thought you were winning _dobe_." Sasuke informed his blonde rival.

"_Teme!"_ Naruto glared at the pale skinned prince.

"You two are as troublesome as ever." A black pineapple haired boy mumbled sleepily, as he reached down to grab his red tattooed faced friend off the floor and said prince blushed at the offer.

"I do apologize, _Prince NARA_." Naruto faked an apology to his young friend.

"Hey, we deserve an apology! We did just get ran over, not Shikamaru!" Kiba exclaimed to Naruto as he got to his feet, still holding the sleepy princes' hand.

"Oh my! Young masters, are you alright?" A brunette maid gasped and hurried over to the young princes on the ground.

"Yes, we're okay Ayame-san. We were just playing around." Naruto informed her while they got off the floor.

"Young sir, you should know not to be running around like that after what happened last time. Now where were you off to in such a hurry?" The maid asked.

"Sasuke and I were hurrying the bathroom to prepare for today's tutoring." Naruto answered her.

"Yes, as were we, when they _ran_ into us." Neji added.

"Why yes, it is almost time for your daily session to begin. Now come, I will see to it that you two make it safely to the showers." The maid told the two playful princes'

"However…" She continued, "Ebisu-san!" She called out to someone.

"Yes, Ayame-san?" A butler with dark glasses came through the same door she had come out of.

"I need you to please escort the other three young masters to the study hall." She informed the butler.

"Of course, right away. Young sirs' please come with me." He directed his attention to the other young ones.

"You guys should hurry, Naruto you should know how _scary_ your tutor gets if you are late." Shikamaru said, as he discreetly slipped his hand out of the tattooed prince's hand, so that the maid did not see.

"Yeah, I know." Naruto said as he scratched his head.

They all then went down separate ends of the hall and soon the young blue and onyx eyed princes' where in the very large bathroom, the maids remove their clothes and kept a close eye on them so they wouldn't goof around while in the tub.

"Hey Sasuke, is your brother going to be the one taking you back home this time?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm, he told me he would but that is only if he is free, father keeps him busy with lots of stuff lately." Sasuke pouted slightly.

"I hope he comes, I have not seen him in while! It sucks just having you around _Teme_." Naruto said with a sly smirk.

"Whatever, _Dobe_." Sasuke replied with a splash toward his best friend, who immediately returned the attack until it was soon a war of waves and the maids had to step in to stop them.

Once they were fully dressed in their princely attire they quickly headed towards they study hall, with a maid guiding them the whole way. Once they reached the main study hall they walked until they came to the library, they quickly entered and tried to avoid the instructor who was busily writing on a board. They thought they had safely made it past him once they were in their seats, only to look up and see him glaring down at them; they automatically shrunk down into their seats and waited for the instructor to snap.

"Now young masters, just what time is it?" The brunette instructor with a scar across his nose inquired.

"It is 1:13pm Iruka sensei." Naruto almost whispered.

"No." Iruka said in a clipped tone.

"It is time for you to yell at us for being late." Sasuke joked.

"_YES_! Prince smarty pants! You are almost Fifteen minutes late for today's lesson, the other young sirs' made it on time, now why didn't you two?" Iruka exclaimed at them.

"Sorry sensei, our fencing practice ran over and then we bumped into shika, kiba and neji on our way to the showers." Naruto admitted.

"Is that so? Well, I will just have to have a word with both of your trainers then." Iruka sighed.

"Now now Iruka, Is that any way to treat the young princes'?" A familiar voice said from the door.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke shouted and ran over to the silver haired man who instructed him at his castle.

"Hello young Master Uchiha, It is good to see you." Kakashi said as the young raven prince hugged him before returning to his seat.

"My, what an _un_-pleasant surprise this is Kakashi." Iruka grumbled, as Kakashi came to stand beside him.

"Do not sulk _koi_, I've come to help you with today's session." Kakashi grinned and winked at the brunette.

"Is that so? Well if that is the case, then lets us begin." Iruka said as he instructed the young princes' on what today's lessons was. There was more than just one, math, science and etiquette. The young princes' groaned and began taking notes.

After the session was over the young princes' made their way to the dining hall for lunch, on the way they made idle chatter.

"I swear, why am _I_ always getting chalk thrown at me?" A sleepy Shikamaru complained.

"It's most likely due to the fact that you _kept _falling asleep during tutoring." Neji mocked.

"Hahah, you have to admit you deserved it!" Kiba laughed loudly.

"Man, what a _drag_." Shikamaru mumbled.

"_What_ was that Prince Nara?" A very animated voice chimed in behind the young boys, Naruto contemplated on running away from the doomed sleepy prince once he heard the all too familiar voice.

"_Ah!_ Lady Uzumaki, I apologize!" Shikamaru completely woke up once he saw naruto's mother and bowed at her.

"To think such language is coming from your young mouth _youknowwhatimean!_" Naruto's mother chided him, he just waited for his mother to start an outlandish assault on the sleepy prince, and whether it is a tickle war or other it was bound to be both funny and embarrassing.

"Hahah, really kushina, the language that comes from _your_ mouth is barely comprehendible when you get too excited. Though young Nara yours is slightly understandable, tutoring can be somewhat dreadful at times." A warm voice interjected before Shikamaru could answer the red headed Queen, Naruto smiled and decided not to run after hearing said voice.

"Oh, is that right Minato? Is that how you feel?" Kushina questioned her husband.

"Father!" Naruto exclaimed before he could reply to his mother.

"Good afternoon King Namikaze." The other four princes' said at the same time, which had the Queen laughing at the blush that came across her husbands' face. Though he had been King for years now, he still blushed at the very formal greetings he received from everyone.

"Now now, I thought we agreed that you would all refer to me as just '_Minato_'?" The blonde haired blue eyed King recalled to the young princes', Naruto was truly the spitting image of his father, only with his mothers' attitude.

"Hahah, Sure thing King Minato." Kiba joked.

"Kiba!" Naruto punched the tattooed prince, who quickly returned the action.

Sasuke and Shikamaru just sighed, as the two seemed to be on a mission to give each other bruises, Neji then shook his head and pulled his long brunette hair out of the ponytail it was currently in, letting it flow down to his waist.

"You two stop that right this moment or you will not get your surprise!" Naruto's mother threatened the feuding princes'.

"Huh? What surprise?" Naruto turned quickly to his mother, giving Kiba an easy blow to the shoulder. Naruto only turned too glared darkly at the brunette.

"Cut it out Kiba!" Shikamaru scolded him as he was about deliver a sneaky kick to Naruto's leg.

"_Hmph._" Kiba grunted as he went to lean against the same wall that said sleepy prince was currently leaning against.

"What surprise is it Aunt Kushina?" Sasuke asked _his_ mother's best friend.

"Well…" Minato answered the onyx eyed prince's question, "Since Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba and you are already here for the day, we decided to invite over a few others as well." Minato informed the young princes', who now had confused but anxious looks on their faces'.

"Who is it father?" Naruto asked anxiously as he looked around.

"_They_ are already waiting for you all to arrive in the dining hall son." Minato put his hand on his son's head mussing up his golden spikes.

"_They?"_ Shikamaru questioned and pushed away from the wall as he heard this announcement.

"Yes, they, and it isn't nice to keep guests waiting. Though I guess we are the one's holding you up." The tomato red haired Queen laughed, she then turned to her husband and put her arm through his.

"Come along now you all, I'm sure your guest are becoming restless." Minato also laughed, as he gestured for the young princes' to follow him to the dining hall.

As they walked down the winding grand staircase that lead to the first floor, the young princes' tried to guess at who might be waiting for them.

"Oh man, I _really_ hope it isn't more instructors on etiquettes." Shikamaru sighed, not bothering to use proper speech, which was mainly used for royals. Though when they got older, they all knew that they would let it slip even more when their parents weren't around.

"Well, a couple of us do still need to learn how to eat properly." Neji joked referring to Naruto and Kiba.

"_Hey!_" Naruto and Kiba shouted and lunged at the grey eyed prince, who swiftly spun away from the attack.

"Alright you three, if you would stop quarreling." Kushina said as she swatted the back of Naruto and Kiba's heads, as they stopped in front of the dining hall doors'.

"_OW!_ Mother!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head and a slow blush covered his sun-kissed skin.

"That's what you get _dobe_." Sasuke smirked.

**Smack!** "_OW!_" Sasuke grunted and grabbed his head where Naruto's mother had swatted him for his language.

"Man, Naruto your mother is _scary_." Kiba whispered, as he sulked behind the sleepy prince, who was now yawning widely.

"Okay you all, go in and greet your guest. We will see you all later on at dinner." Minato smiled at the young princes' and turned to head further down the main hall.

As they opened the dining hall doors they all recognized the very familiar friendly faces, with the exception of one emotionless pale face. Neji's eyes were automatically fixed to the expressionless face of the blood red haired boy.

"Gaara." Neji breathed and a smirk played on his lips as they entered the large room, just as the guest were in mid-conversation a butler excused his interruption and announced their arrival.

"Presenting, the young Heirs', Prince Naruto Uzumaki, Prince Sasuke Uchiha, Prince Shikamaru Nara, Prince Kiba Inuzuka and Prince Neji Hyuga." The butler announced as the Young guests turned to the doors as said announced princes' walked through.

The young guest stood as the Princes' walked along the table to claim their seats, As usual, when his father wasn't accompanying him to eat, Naruto took his seat at the head of the table with Sasuke to his right.

"Hey you guys! What're you doing here?" Naruto asked excitedly as he sat down, letting his language slip in the comfort of his friends.

"Minato-sama invited us here for the weekend; I assume it was due to the fact that _they're_ here." A pink haired, sea foam green eyed girl answered him as she darted her eyes toward the other young princes' that had just sat down.

"Whatever the case may have been, _I_ for one am glad to be here. It has been too long Naruto." The teal eyed, blood red haired boy with a love tattoo on his forehead, just above a non-existent eyebrow, interjected turning to show a warm smile to the young blue eyed prince.

"It has been a while _Prince_ Gaara." Naruto added the honorific to the beginning of the teal eyed prince's name causing him to blush slightly.

"_Ah!_ Is that the color of youth I see on your face Gaara?" A bushy browed boy exclaimed, as he brought more attention to the teal eyed prince.

"_Quite Lee!" _Gaara hissed at the overly animated boy, though everyone just laughed at the action.

"_Prince_ Lee I must ask that you calm down, everyone will end up with headaches if you don't." Neji chided the bushy browed prince, who smile and laughed loudly at Neji's request and laps in language, but sat back down in his seat.

"Heheh." A small laugh chimed in from next to Neji, who turned to his right to look at the grey eyed, black-blue haired girl.

"Hinata you seem pretty happy, am I to assume that you agree with my accusation?" Neji asked her.

"Only a little Nii-san, this is normal for him after all." Hinata said just above a whisper to her brother.

"It is to be expected, is it not? Lee is being as boisterous as always." A muffled voice said from across the table.

"What? Hey _Prince_ Shino, try uncovering your mouth when you talk!" A pale blonde haired, sky blue eyed girl shouted a few seats down from the young prince with dark glasses on who had spoken.

"_Hmph._" Shino huffed.

"Will you stop shouting in my ear, _Ino-pig!_" The pink haired girl glared at the pale blonde princess who was seated next to her.

"Oh shut up you _gargantuan forehead princess!_" Ino snapped at the pink haired girl, who looked as if she wanted to slap her.

"Sakura my love, do not furrow your beautiful brow like that. I for one love your big forehead!" Lee interjected.

"_Shut up Lee!"_ Sakura hissed at the comment he had just made and blushed.

Everyone laughed as she hit him hard, even for a girl, in his arm. Just then the maids came out and began to serve them the first course of their lunch.

_Munch, Munch, Munch_. The chubbiest of the children dove into his food without hesitation as soon as the maid put it in front of him.

"Geez _Prince_ Choji, slow down or you might choke to death before you finish!" A brunette with two spiky ponytails commented.

"Aww, but I'm SO hungry _princess_ Tenten!" The chubby prince with tattooed swirls on each of his cheeks exclaimed and dove back into his food.

"Sheesh Choji, Don't be such a fa-_OW!_" Naruto began to say before he was kicked from under the table, he looked up to see Sasuke with a smug look on his full pink lips.

"Huh? What was that Naruto?" Choji leered at Naruto, who was currently staring at the pale raven haired prince.

"Nothing!" He quickly said as he looked away from the onyx eyed boy with a slight blush on his cheek. He knew how Choji got when someone picked on his weight.

"_Dobe_." Sasuke muttered at Naruto.

"_Teme_." Naruto replied and turned his attention to his food.

They began to eat the first part of their meal with chatter and laughter, and several punches being made which would certainly leave marks and scolding from the adults.

"So are you guy's staying for the weekend correct?" Naruto asked his friends, after finishing his meal.

"That's what was arranged when Minato-sama contacted our parents." Gaara said in a slightly expressionless voice.

"You sound as _thrilled_ as ever." Neji smirked at the red headed prince, who looked at him slightly amused.

"So are we sleeping in our normal rooms this time?" Kiba asked Naruto as he stole a glance at the pineapple haired prince next to him, who was somehow sleeping sitting straight up in his chair. '_Man he can sleep anywhere!'_ He thought and smiled.

"Hmm, I suppose." Naruto said looking slightly upset about something.

"Is something the matter Naruto?" Hinata asked quietly a few seats down.

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine." He informed her. _'She doesn't miss a thing does she?'_ He thought.

"So Naruto, do you have any other lessons planned for today?" Lee questioned.

"I have swimming lessons next actually, you all should come it'll make it more fun!" Naruto perked up at the idea, glancing at Sasuke while hoping he would agree so he would be able to see him in his swim trunks.

"That sounds great! The challenges of youth are calling!" Lee shouted happily, "I say we have a swimming race!" He continued with even more excitement than before.

"_Ugh_, Lee must you be so loud?" Shikamaru groaned as he woke up, while rubbing his neck, which became stiff from sleeping upright.

"Come now shika! You need to get out more, you sleep too much as it is. I believe a swim match is _exactly_ what you need!" Lee confronted the pineapple haired prince, who was close to falling asleep again.

"Yeah shika, come on it sounds like fun!" Kiba agreed, as he elbowed Shikamaru in his side.

"Oh man, what a _drag_. Though, I suppose I could go for a little swim." Shikamaru agreed, not being able to say no to Kiba's puppy dog eyes.

"_Boys'_." Tenten whispered to Sakura, Hinata and Ino, who nodded their heads and giggled.

"Well how about it Sasuke, Shino, Gaara and Choji?" Naruto asked the other quiet princes'.

"_Hmph_, I guess I should go. Who else is going to keep you from drowning _dobe_?" Sasuke smirked at Naruto, who blushed and hit his best friend.

"Shut up _Teme_!" Naruto shouted.

"_Ugh_, I'm too full to swim." Choji groaned as he rubbed his protruding stomach.

"I'll go, but swimming I won't do." Shino mumbled from behind his high collar.

"That's defeating the point of going Shino, let me guess you'll be doing bug watching?" Kiba laughed.

"_Hmph_." Shino huffed.

"Well, what about you Neji?" Naruto probed for his reply.

"I'll go if Gaara goes." Neji said proudly as he stared across the table at the teal eyed prince, hoping he would say yes.

"I _suppose_, I could use the lesson." Gaara said staring back at the grey eyed prince who was still staring at him, with a slow smile forming on his lips causing the red head to blush very slightly.

"Well, in that case, I'll go to." Neji said slightly smiling.

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, his blue eyes practically sparkling with excitement.

"Well, since the boys' are doing that, why don't we go find Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked the girls at the table.

"That sounds good." Hinata whispered pushing her index fingers together as she usually did when attention was called to her.

"I agree." Tenten simply said.

"That's fine with me." Ino answered.

"Now that that's decided, let's go!" Lee shouted leaping from his seat, while blowing a kiss at Sakura.

"_Lee!_" She blushed and laughed at the show of affection.

"See you Choji." Ino said and patted Choji on his head.

"See you Ino." He smiled up at her, the swirled tattoos on his cheeks scrunching up, as she and the other girls left, they passed the maids and butlers as they exited into the main hall. The maids' cleared the table as the young princes' left the room and took an exit opposite to where the girls left.

"What are you going to do Choji?" Sasuke asked the chubby brunette as he noticed the new earring in his ear.

"Hmm, I might go lay down, I'm so full that I can barely move." Choji grunted.

"I wish I could lie down, but Kiba would just drag me back out the bed." Shikamaru sighed, and then looked at a smirking Kiba.

"You've got that right! You already sleep and cloud watch _too_ much as it is!" Kiba laughed and put his arm around the now yawning prince.

"Well, alright Choji, we'll see you after our lesson." Naruto told Choji as he made his way to the guest bedroom.

The others continued their walk through the castle to the indoor swimming pool, once they reached it they quickly went to the changing room. As they got dressed Naruto and Sasuke stole sneaky glances at each other, as Kiba looked openly at Shikamaru causing the pineapple haired prince to throw his shirt in the ogling brunette who just laughed at the action and across from them Lee tried unsuccessfully to get Shino in the upcoming swim match, Shino only mumbled something about flying ants which made Lee laugh loudly. Meanwhile, Gaara fumbled with a latch on his vest and sighed when he couldn't get it loose.

"Here, let me." Neji helped his crush out of the vest.

"Thank you." Gaara blushed, creating a beautiful contrast to his eyes and the black make-up around them, which had Neji gaping at him.

"Sure… no problem." Neji blushed slightly, while turning away from him to hide said blush.

Gaara giggled, which had Neji spinning back around to catch the red head smiling, which was very rare when he wasn't around Naruto. Neji just smirked and lightly punched Gaara in the shoulder.

"Hey, you guys ready?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face, while looking the now tussling Gaara and Neji, who quickly straightened up at his arrival.

"Yes, let's go." Gaara said smiling slightly at Naruto, then turned to Neji and raised a non-existent brow in a silent question.

"I'm ready." Neji rolled his eyes and smiled at Gaara's expression.

"….But Shino you _must_ join us, not watch bugs!" Lee exclaimed as he and Shino walked around to where the other princes' were, obviously discussing why Shino wasn't swimming.

"No." Shino simply replied, "_Most_ insects don't like water anyways. Most." He continued which earned him some confused looks from the other boys'.

As they walked into the pool area they could hear people talking and laughing at unheard jokes, as they rounded one of the pillars they spotted Naruto's white haired, sharp-toothed swimming instructor and another older white haired man with red tattooed lines that went from his eyes' to his chin on both sides.

"Grandfather!" Naruto shouted and ran towards the older man, who stopped talking as soon as he heard Naruto's echoing voice.

"Naruto, my boy, How have you been?" The older white haired man asked as Naruto hugged him.

"I'm fine old man, when did you get back?" Naruto asked excitedly, while stepping back so he could look up at his grandfather.

"I arrived just a few moments and Minato told me you were entertaining guest at the time, then told me you had swimming lessons at four, so I came down here to talk to Suigetsu in the meantime." He informed his blue eyed grandson.

"Which I am grateful for since you are late, _again_, Naruto!" His instructor, Suigetsu, reprimanded the young sun-kissed prince.

"I apologize Suigetsu-san, But it was my fault that we are late I had a little trouble getting out of my garbs." Gaara implored to the sharp-toothed man.

"Oh, is that so, well young Master Suna that's what the maids are for, they're trained in removing those troublesome things." He told Gaara as he shook his head at the thought of how time consuming royal garbs are.

Gaara blushed very slightly and turned his head away from him, "I will remember that next time sir." Gaara mumbled.

"I think it's time we learned how to undress ourselves, the maids shouldn't have to do it for us _all_ the time." Sasuke said, slightly annoyed at the sharp-tooth mans assumption.

"Hahahah, Well I suppose that may be true young Master Uchiha." Suigetsu laughed as both pale princes' glared slightly at him. This made the other princes' chuckle at their reactions.

"Well, Naruto I will talk to you later at dinner." He put his hand on the all the boys' heads mussing up their hair, which had Shikamaru untying his black pineapple ponytail. "Go easy on them Suigetsu, wouldn't want my wife to hurt you after all." Naruto's grandfather joked and called over his shoulder as he walked back around the pool.

"Yes Master Jiraiya!" He called after the retreating older man.

"Man, I'm beginning to regret coming here; this is going to be such a _drag_." Shikamaru said as he ran a hand through his untied hair that fell just above his shoulders.

"Oh wake up Shika; this is going to be fun!" Kiba elbowed him in his side and mussed his loose hair.

"Stop complaining Shika, a little extracurricular sport's will not kill you." Sasuke chuckled, "Unlike Naruto here." He continued and laughed even louder.

"Shut up _Teme!_" Naruto punched duck butt haired prince in his side, all the while enjoying the sound of his laughter.

"Now let's begin." Suigetsu said, then turned to look at Naruto, "Young master, I must ask that you remove your shirt before entering the pool." He continued with a slightly sad expression.

"Oh." Naruto sigh heavily "Alright." He agreed and removed his shirt showing more of his sun-kissed skin and thusly revealing the spiral marking on his stomach which seemed to start from his navel and seemed to be partnered with the whisker like marks on his cheeks. The other princes' slightly averted their eyes from the markings, those marks were sad and painful reminders of how dangerous life is for young princes', one slip in security or trust and all hell breaks loose.

"**Go youth, burn brightly with the flames of friendship**!" Lee shouted as he ran towards the pool, jumped in the air and did a perfect cannon ball which successfully soaked the others by the pool and pulled them back to reality and away from the sad memories.

"_Ugh!_ Lee you overly excited twerp!" Kiba shouted as he ran towards the pool to jump in after Lee, only to slip at the edge of the pool which had him falling on his side, half in the pool half out of the pool, until he slid all the way in.

"Hahah! Perfect dive Kiba!" Naruto laughed, and walked carefully to the side of the pool where the tattooed prince was now gripping on to the side, grimacing at him.

"Oh man Kiba that was a classic." Shikamaru chuckled at his friend as he kneeled beside Naruto, who was now at the pools edge, "Are you okay?" He asked as he reached his hand out to the embarrassed brunette.

"Yeah…but you're not!" Kiba chuckled as he grabbed Shikamaru's hand and pulled him into the water with him, causing him to shout as he was pulled in head first.

"_Gah!_ Kiba you-." Shikamaru began to shout but was thusly cut off as he broke through the water's surface and sent another wave of water towards the remaining boys on the side.

"_Tsk_." Shino clicked as he swiftly moved out of the way just as the other boys' were hit with the wave, as the water splashed towards the boys' Gaara moved behind Neji as the water hit him.

"_Kiba!_ Are you intent on soaking us all before we enter the pool?" Neji exclaimed as he pushed his long brunette hair out of his eyes, he then noticed Gaara hiding behind him slightly wet from the first wave of water.

"You're a pretty good shield Neji." Gaara chuckled at the now gaping grey eyed prince, and then smiled.

"Nice one Gaara, too bad _dobe_ here isn't the same way." Sasuke smirked and turned to glare slightly at the now dripping wet blonde, said sight causing his glare to falter.

"Shut up _teme_, I don't see you trying to shield anyone!" Naruto blushed at sasuke's glare that had him reeling.

"Now boys', what have I said about roughhousing around the pool?" Suigetsu spoke up, not even bothering to wipe the water from his face. "Now the rest of you line up by the edge." He ordered them.

"I'll pass." An almost dry Shino replied. "I'll be by the outdoor pool." He continued and walked out a nearby exit that led outside.

"…O-_Kay_, that young prince is still a mystery to me." Suigetsu mumbled and shook his shoulder length hair.

As the boys' lined up by the pool Sasuke stood behind Naruto and Gaara stood behind Neji, who were both standing about two feet apart looking at the three others in the pool, one of which was quickly making his umpteenth lap down the pool. While Shikamaru and Kiba were floating off to the side talking.

"Now, as usual, I will give you all a few minutes to get your bearings once in the pool. Then I shall begin today's swimming form." The sharp-toothed instructor said, "But as I said, no horse playing! I shudder to think what should happen if Lady Kushina or Lady Tsunade were to see any of you hurt." He continued and shivered slightly.

"Yes Suigetsu-sensei." Naruto replied, "I'll show you who can't swim, _teme_." Naruto turned to grin at the pale skinned raven.

"Hn, in your dreams _dobe_!" Sasuke smirked and playfully pushed the blonde into the pool, only to have said blonde grab onto his arm in mid-fall and pulled him in with him.

"_Dobe!_" Sasuke shouted as he landed in the water, which made Gaara laugh and Neji turned to see a mischievous gleam in the red haired prince's teal eyes, but before he could react Gaara pushed him into the pool with the others'.

"_Ugh_, Gaara!" Neji cough as he resurfaced and saw Gaara grinning widely, Neji was taken aback by the rare smile and swam towards the side of the pool where the red head was now sitting on the edge.

"I apologize; it was too good an opportunity to pass up." Gaara confessed as he looked down at Neji.

"Oh was it really?" Neji said and smirked as he grabbed the pale red heads ankle and pulled him into the pool as well.

"_No!_" Gaara gasped as he was pulled under.

"I _swear_ they never listen." Suigetsu sighed and turned to sit at a nearby table, where he picked up a glass of water and sat to watch the rough housing princes'.

As the boys meandered around the pool, they all were somewhat paired up with someone, excluding Lee, and were partaking in various acts. Lee was still swimming like crazy around the pool in an attempt to prepare himself for the upcoming swimming match. Shikamaru was floating on his back, probably somehow asleep, while Kiba wadded quietly beside him with an ominous look in his eyes'. He was more than likely planning a sneak attack on the drifting lazy prince, whose black hair splayed around his face. Neji and Gaara were in a corner of the pool, Neji was seemingly holding Gaara up in the water as he attempted to float on his back as well. Only when his hair fanned out around his face it looked somewhat unsettling, it looked as though he was bleeding profusely from an unseen wound on his head. Said sight caused Neji frown slightly and tighten his hold on said red head.

Then there was Naruto and Sasuke, who were on the opposite side of the pool where they could escape the view of Suigetsu and the others. They were currently staring each other down in an unspoken attempt to prove something.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked and narrowed his eyes' even further at the whisker faced prince.

"Come on _teme_, let's get on with it!" Naruto huffed and shuddered under the intense glare from the raven.

"You're just going to lose _dobe_." Sasuke said and his smirk turned smug as he floated closer to the blond.

"We'll just see about that!" Naruto hissed and mimicked the ravens' movement.

"_Dobe."_ Sasuke said as his smirk turned into a full blown smile as he placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders'.

"_Teme."_ Naruto replied and shivered slightly before placing his hands' on Sasuke's shoulders as well. With that said, the two princes' ceased their movements and allowed themselves to slip under the water and begin their own personal contest, which was to see which one of them could hold their breath the longest. As the two boys floated under the water they both released one hand each in order to keep them under the water, all the while their eyes' never left the others.

"_Naruto is going to be stubborn about this, I have to find a way to make him lose before Suigetsu finds us,"_ Sasuke thought as he continued to stare at the submerged blond. "_Though I have to admit, he does look pretty good like this… Hn, maybe I should drag this out a bit instead." _He continued his previous thought and smirked at the idea.

"_There he goes with that smirk, if he even _thinks_ that I'm going to lose, he has another thing coming," _Naruto thought as he narrowed his eyes' at the raven, _"But man, that stupidly alluring smirk is making it somewhat hard to keep myself calm. Why does that smirk always have such an appealing affect on me, I'm sure this isn't right. Is it?" _Naruto questioned himself and tightened his hold on the pale shoulder.

"_I wonder what he's thinking, most likely it's some kind of plan on getting me to lose. That's so not going to happen. I wonder…" _Sasuke arched an onyx brow at Naruto and reached his free hand over to run his fingers though his blond hair, which felt like silk under the water. The contact caused Naruto's eyes' to widen considerably, but he still held his breath.

"_What on earth is he trying to do? And why is my heart beating so fast all of the sudden?" _Naruto asked himself as he forced his eyes to narrow back to their original position.

"_Hn seems like that didn't work. Let's try this…" _Sasuke contemplated and moved his hand down from Naruto's hair to his neck and stopped on his slight chest. Naruto then almost lost his composure as an unfamiliar sensation tingled through his body and pooled in his stomach.

"_Ngh, why is he touching me like this? And why does it feel so… good? If he keeps this up I'm going to lose, I've got to keep calm!" _Naruto thought and, though he wanted and felt like panting, he wielded himself to stay calm under Sasuke's heated touch.

"_Hmm, that time seemed to have an effect on him. Now for the final push…" _Sasuke smirked devilishly and the blue eyed prince, whose face was now beginning to turn red. He then wafted even closer to Naruto until their chests were flush against each others, he then moved both of his hands to the blonds scarred cheeks and held his face in place and slowly moved his lips towards the blonds.

"_What's he doing now?_ _Oh, he's so close. Wait, he's not going to do what I think he's going to do, is he?" _Naruto thought as he fought desperately to hold his breath, "_Teme, he's going to do it-" _He continued to think before his thinking was interrupted by the ravens' soft lips pressed against his, which caused his heart to thud frantically in his chest. To say that he didn't use all of his strength to keep his held air in was an understatement of the century. This wasn't the first time they had kissed they have known each other their whole lives and not to mention that they were both eight, in short, they had figured that since they were best friends it was a show of friendship whenever they did kiss. However said kisses were usually on the hand, cheeks, forehead or nose. So, for Sasuke to kiss him on his lips had made concentrating on holding his breath extremely difficult.

Naruto then decided that if Sasuke was going to fight dirty like that, then he would fight back just as hard. So, when Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's head and pulled him in closer, the raven was more than shocked but due to his growing pride, he did not let Naruto get the better of him.

"_So, he wants to put up a fight and play along does he? Well, let's just see how he responds to this…" _Sasuke thought and chuckled darkly in his head. Said raven then licked across the blonds bottom lip and bit down slightly, which then caused said blond to part his mouth in an uncontrolled motion. That he didn't inhale automatically from that action made the raven arch a perfect dark eyebrow.

"_Ngh, Wha- where, and when, did he learn to do this? This is becoming too much, I'm not going to last much longer. Not to mention that my groin is really starting to hurt for some reason, wait; it couldn't be that I'm getting…" _Naruto thought as his thoughts were proven correct once their floating caused them to shift and it was then that he felt Sasuke's hardened member rub against his, which sent a ripple of pleasure that he had never experienced before, surging throughout his body.

"_Hn, this is getting pretty heated. Dobe can sure put up a fight, but this is making my lower belly hot. I think I recall Itachi mentioning something about this feeling before, it means that…" _Sasuke thought before the motion of their floating cause him to momentarily cease to think, his memory of what his older brother, Itachi, had told him what happens when a guy gets 'Turned-on' as he had so bluntly put it. The feeling that the raven felt in that moment was beyond anything that he could explain, what he did know, was that had never felt anything this good before.

As the two kissing boys both felt the sudden surge of pleasure, they lapsed in their control and came up gasping through the waters' surface. Naruto had a slight blush on his cheeks as he tried to calm his erratic breathing, Sasuke also had just a faint pink blush on his cheeks as he gripped the side of the pool with the blond. As naruto glanced over at Sasuke he was a little miffed to find him with that sexy smirk on his face, when it became known as a _sexy_ smirk he had no idea, but his blushing only intensified once he saw it and he suddenly remembered his revelation just before they surfaced. He had gotten very aroused during their little session. Shocked wasn't the word he felt would describe what he was feeling at that moment, flabbergasted seemed more suitable a definition of how he felt.

"_Teme_, what was _that_ all about?" Naruto hissed as his breathing returned to normal.

"Hn, calm down _dobe_, it's called _kissing_ you already know that." Sasuke teased as his smirk turned smug.

"That's not what I meant, why did you kiss me on the lips?" Naruto clarified and narrowed his eyes and the pale prince next to him. He did dare get out of the pool in his current state.

"Why not on the lips, Kissing is kissing isn't it? Besides, I didn't see you complaining, you seemed to rather like it if I'm not mistaken." The raven mentioned and gave the tanned prince a full blown grin. Sasuke's grins were always the best, they were like a breath of fresh air after surfacing from being under the water to long. Which was ironically enough was the perfect comparison in their recent experience.

"Why you… You're one to talk, you seemed pretty 'Excited' yourself teme!" Naruto exclaimed and splashed the onyx eyed prince, before quickly swimming over to the other side of the pool where the other princes' where still idling in their pairs.

"Get back here dobe!" Sasuke growled as he swiftly swam after the retreating blond and quickly caught up with him, he then grabbed his ankle and pulled him under the water before he they got to close to the others. He then placed another soft kiss one the wide eyed blonds pink lips and then pulled him back to the surface.

"Sasuke!" Naruto huffed and a blush the color of a tomato.

"Yes Naruto?" Sasuke taunted while stifling a chuckle, but before the blushing prince had a chance to respond, Suigetsu spoke up from the side of the pool.

"Alright young sirs', now let's get this race started shall we?" Suigetsu announced and grinned widely showing almost all of his sharp teeth.

"Man, this is going to be such a drag." The sleepy black haired prince complained as he continued to float on his back.

"No point in complaining now Shika, you already agreed to this." The triangle tattooed prince said as he positioned himself for his sneak attack on the drifting black haired prince, he quickly drew his hand high up in the air before bringing it back down on the drowsy princes' bare stomach.

"Kiba!" Shikamaru grunted before he curled in on himself and sunk under the water, when he came back up the glare that was on his face was more than deadly. It was downright murderous, the phrase 'If looks could kill' popped into everyone's minds. However, Kiba just grinned showing one of his fangs and pulled himself out of the water just as Shikamaru made a lunge at him.

"Ha! Too slow Shika!" Kiba taunted a few feet from the edge of the pool.

"You're so troublesome Kiba, I swear." Shikamaru sighed and ran his hand through his inky black hair, then pulled himself out of the pool as well.

"Come Gaara, it's time to get this ridiculous race over and done with." Neji said looking down at this still floating redhead.

"I suppose, the sooner I can get out of the water the better." Gaara sighed and turned upright to wade over to the side of the pool, Neji let him get out of the pool first and letting his hands linger on the redheads back as he lifted himself out. Gaara didn't shivered very slightly at the contact and turned to smirk at the brunet, as he looked down at the brunet he marveled at how his long hair fanned out around him in the pool. _'Hmm, Neji really is quite beautiful.' _Gaara thought as he reached his hand out to help said brunet out of the pool.

By the time Naruto and Sasuke reached the edge of the pool the rest of the boys were already out and walking down to the other side of the pool, Lee was the first one down there already in position, though none of the boys, even Suigetsu, recalled seeing the overly excited prince make his way down there. His speed was nothing to snuff at when the bushy browed prince was excited, about any physical contest, he was quick to start.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Soo? What do you all think so far? I rather like it, if i do say so myself, but thats just me. Anyways, please review, if you do i MAY put the second part of this chapter up. Positive and Negative reviews are fine, also( even though i already have more than 200 pages of this already typed up) if you have any suggestions, I will consider craming them into the story (if it fits).

**Please note**: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	2. Adults & Their Plans

**AN: **Hello people of Fanfiction! I'm back, and with a new juicy chappie! {Why did i type it like that?} Well, anywho! I originally wrote this chapter without any form of SC, however, since I love my readers, I dove back in and added something new! and i like to call this new bunny as a LimeBerry, not quite a Lime and not quite a Strawberry! {my bunnies have obviously been mating without my knowing} But the outcome was good, just enough so to get the blood pumping in your noses! Well, enough with the babbling. On with the story! And dont forget to review!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter 2**

**Adults & Their Plans**

As the young boys all lined up on one side of the pool next to the bushy browed prince to begin the previously planned swim match, they all began making bets' on who would do what if said person lost or won.

"Okay if I win you all have to give me your share of ramen the next time we have it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh please, that's hardly worth the loss _dobe_." Sasuke chuckled, "Leave it to you to demand a dumb prize for winning." He continued as he smirked at the now seething Naruto.

"No one asked for your opinion _teme!_" Naruto blushed, "Well how about this, if I win you have to do any one thing I tell you to do!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke.

"Hn, sounds fair, likewise, if I win you have to do any one thing I say." Sasuke repeated and punched Naruto in his shoulder.

"Well, now that that's settled, what shall we bet?" Lee asked excitedly, as he looked at Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji and Gaara.

"If I win you all have to let me sleep whenever I want while I'm here." Shikamaru said through a yawn.

"And if I win you have to stay awake the _whole_ time tonight!" Kiba said as he bent down and splashed the sleepy prince, who just sighed at the threat.

"Alright, Neji and Gaara?" Lee turned to hear their bets'

"Hmm, I'm not sure." Gaara said as he rubbed at the black makeup around his eyes', which surprisingly hadn't came off in the water.

"Well, how about this, if I win you have to smile the whole time during dinner." Neji challenged as he mused up Gaara's hair.

"Very well, if that's the case I will challenge you to the same bet as Naruto and Sasuke." Gaara said and flicked water at the mentioned boys' who were currently smirking and glaring at each other.

"Alright! Then if I win, I challenge you all to a race around the castle!" Lee shouted, all the challenged boys groaned at his bet knowing that was nearly impossible and over the top.

As the boys' stood by the edge of the pool to begin the race, Kiba gave one final punch to the sleepy princes' arm to make sure he was awake. Shikamaru then smacked the back of the Kiba's head and position himself for the race, Kiba and the others followed suit.

"Okay boys', ready, set, _GO!_" Suigetsu shouted their start. Shikamaru just barely made an attempt to dive and began swimming fiercely to win his side of the bet with Kiba right beside him threatening to win. Beside them Naruto and Sasuke were swimming just as hard both cutting through the water, Neji and Gaara both swam with determination as neither one of them wanted to lose the bet against Lee. Who was currently in the lead, but slightly tired from the practice laps' he did before the race. Just then the four princess walked in to the pool area and sat down at a table furthest from splashing that the boys' were making, Sakura smirked at the lead Lee held against the other boys'.

"Looks like Lee is winning." Sakura announced somewhat smugly.

"Hmph, hardly, the others are right on his heels, _billboard-brow_." Ino corrected as she ran her fingers through her high ponytail.

"Shut up _Ino-pig!_" Sakura shouted and turned slightly away from said princess.

"Now young princesses, not too loud, you wouldn't want to distract the boys' with your beauty now would you?" The sharp-toothed swimming instructor said as he walked over to them with a warm smile on his face.

"S-sorry Suigetsu-sensei." Hinata whispered blushing slightly.

"No need for apologizes Princess Hyuga, I'm fairly sure they're too busy to hear you as it is." Suigetsu chuckled and bowed in front of the grey eyed princess.

"So what are they racing for?" Tenten princess asked.

"It is just a small bet they've made among each other Princess Kunai." Suigetsu turned and bowed to her as well as the other princesses.

Just as the boys' had swum back around for the last leg of the race, Lee looked to his side in mid-stroke and spotted the pink haired Princess. Just one look was all it took as his stroke faltered, which gave the others an opportunity to blow past him and end the race.

"YES! I win _teme!"_ Naruto shouted happily once he was out of the pool and Suigetsu gave them the results, water dripped from his once spiky golden hair and rolled down his sun-kissed skin.

"Hn, you just got lucky _dobe_." The dripping wet Sasuke muttered as he looked Naruto up and down, remembering their private challenge earlier and smirked.

"NO! Youth has been blinded by beauty." Lee sulked as he stood by Sakura, who placed a hand on his wet shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

"Aww, it's alright Lee." Sakura said and smiled at him.

"Awwww _Man_! This _sucks_!" Kiba practically groaned and ran his hands through his wet hair, which he then proceeded to shake out like a dog and had the girls reeling from the flying water. "How could I lose?" Kiba continued and sulked.

"A bet is a bet, so I'm sleeping in tomorrow." Shikamaru said sleepily. Kiba growled at drowsy prince and began plotting on how to get his revenge. _'I'll make sure you won't get any sleep tomorrow shika.' _Kiba thought.

"Well there you have it Neji." Gaara smirked at the glaring grey eyed price whose long brunette hair stuck wetly to his back.

"Very well _Prince_ Gaara, your wish is my command." Neji joked and smirked at Gaara who blushed slightly at the formality. Just then the sun glasses wearing prince came from, basically, thin air to stand beside Kiba.

"It seems you're all worse for wear, being as you just finished you race and all." Shino uttered next to the plotting brunette, who jumped almost a foot in the air in surprise to his voice.

"_Gah!_ Shino, don't sneak up on me like that!" Kiba exclaimed with a hand over his heart, the princesses giggled at the frightened look on his face.

"You should be more alert, like your dog. Dogs are very alert to others." Shino commented, turning to walk towards the changing rooms.

"That's right, Kiba where is Akamaru? This is first time I've seen you without him." Naruto questioned.

"Ugh, my sister _insisted_ that I go a day without him so she and my mother could groom him, I shudder to think what they're really doing to him." Kiba shook his head looking very crestfallen, that dog was never far from him no matter what the circumstances', so to have come all the way here without him must've been hard.

"I-I'm sure H-hana means well Kiba, as does Lady Inuzuka." Hinata said shyly and looked at Kiba with an equally shy smile.

"Hinata is right Kiba; it is wise to keep Akamaru as healthy as possible!" Lee joined in, going over to grip his shoulder in encouragement.

"Yeah I suppose, I still wish he was here though." Kiba agreed with them trying to look slightly happier.

"Okay young sirs', that will be all today I hope to see you all again soon!" The sharp-tooth Suigetsu announced proudly, but feeling a little irritated that they didn't really do any real practicing.

"Thank you Suigetsu-sensei." The princes' all said in unison causing the instructor to grin widely, thus causing the boys' to laugh.

As the boys' walked to the changing room they parted with the princesses, who went directly to their arranged rooms to prepare for dinner.

"Don't be late Naruto, this may be your castle, but I know Lady Kushina will hang you out to dry if you are." Sakura warned and giggled, the other princesses joined in and continued down the hall.

"_As if!_" Naruto shouted after her, though he knew full well that his mother would do something outlandish if he were to be late, with that thought in mind he picked up his pace and hurried into the dressing room. Once all the princes' were dressed, they quickly made their way to their guest rooms' to officially change for dinner, Naruto waved after them as he went to his room to change.

"Oh, you're right on time young master." The head maid Ayame turned at his entrance then proceeded to lead him to the changing mirrors.

"Yeah… I practically ran up here, I do not wish to be late to dinner Ayame-san." Naruto breathed slightly heavily as the maid hastily removed his evening grabs, then went to the massive walk-in closet, which was basically a whole bedroom in itself, she grabbed a set of orange garbs that had royal blue shoulders which were adorned with gold chains that looped slightly from the neck to the shoulders edge, with white cuffs around the wrists pinned with gold cufflinks, along with a royal blue sash around the waist and a stripe of white going down the middle of his chest, and on the back the family insignia, a red spiral.

She efficiently got the blue eyed prince dressed in record time and then placed a golden crown on his head, which would've blended in completely if it had not been speckled with rubies, sapphires and the red family insignia swirl in the middle.

"Thank you Ayame-san, I think you just made a new record in getting me dressed!" Naruto laughed and looked himself over in the large mirror.

"Well young master, I have to be quick, I wouldn't want to upset the King and Queen by taking too long dressing their son and make him late to dinner or any other events that require the young masters presence." Ayame explained to the young prince as she put a pair of royal blue shoes in front of him from him to wear, as he stepped into the shoes she stepped back to look him over and then clasped her hands together.

"Perfect!" She smiled and then turned to walk towards the main bedroom doors, "Well, come on now you have plenty of time to get to dinner, though that doesn't mean you don't have to show up early." She said as she stood by the door for him to exit into the hall.

"Yes, let us go, I just hope the others are ready." Naruto said as he walked into the hallway, as he walked down the hall he planned to stop at each princes' room so that they could all walk together, he was surprised to find that all the prince's were already dressed and waiting for him. Each of the princes' was now wearing their royal garbs and princely crowns.

"About time you've came _dobe_." Sasuke smirked at Naruto, just as the other princes' walked over to the glowering raven and blonde.

"_Teme_!" Naruto growled at the raven.

"Oh come on you guys, I'm starving over here!" Choji whined.

"I for once agree with choji, the last time any of us ate was during lunch." Neji said, his long brunette hair was now completely dry and was pulled back into its original loose ponytail.

"Not to mention all that swimming we did, so troublesome, I'm completely wiped out." Shikamaru said lazily as he leaned against a wall.

"Then let's go eat and refill our youthful energy!" Lee shouted excitedly.

"Man, is there _anything_ that doesn't excite you?" kiba said as he covered the ear that was closest to the loud prince.

"Come Naruto, you shouldn't be late for the third time today." Gaara said and rubbed the love tattooed on his forehead, then turned to descend the grand staircase.

"Right." Naruto said and continued on in front of Gaara, as they walked down the hall once again to the dining room they noticed the princesses waiting just outside the dining room doors.

"Wow, you are actually on time!" Ino smiled as the boys came within earshot.

"I have to agree, I actually do not think Lord Minato and Lady Kushina have even arrived yet." Tenten admitted.

"Really? _Awesome!_" Naruto questioned and exclaimed. He was surprised to have actually gotten there before his parents. Just then two butlers opened the double doors for the young group to enter, were they sat in almost the same seats as before, with the exception that Naruto was now seated on the right side of the head chair and Sasuke sat to the left of the head chair. Neji claimed his seat beside Gaara this time who smirked at him as he sat down, Shino then sat beside Hinata, who slightly blushed at her crush. Across from them Shikamaru sat beside Kiba, who grinned widely at him, and beside them Ino and Choji sat beside each other. And finally across from them Tenten, Sakura and Lee sat beside each other.

Once they were all seated they started casual conversation, as they were quite a few minutes early for dinner.

"So what type of bets' did you all make?" Tenten asked the boys, who were currently arguing about who might have possibly cheated.

"I bet everyone, mainly Kiba, that if I won they would have to let me sleep in tomorrow." Shikamaru told her, though it was slightly muffled due to the fact that he was resting his chin on his hand, which was propped up on the table.

"Typical Shika." Ino said as she shook her head, "I could have guessed that _you'd_ say that, what about you Gaara?" Ino continued and turned to look at the pale red head.

"I haven't yet decided on what way I will make Neji pay for his loss." Gaara spoke as he smirked smugly at Neji, who smiled and shook his head.

"I only hope is not _too_ embarrassing." Neji joked and nudged the teal eyed prince.

"I am s-sure Gaara will easy on y-you Nii-san." Hinata said from across him and smiled reassuringly.

"I know! Gaara you should challenge him to an exercise match!" Lee shouted excitedly from a couple seats down.

"NO." Gaara and Neji said at the same time, which everyone laughed at and caused Lee to sulk slightly.

"So Naruto, what was your bet to Sasuke?" Sakura asked sun-kissed skinned blonde.

"This _teme_ has to follow one order I give him, no matter how embarrassing it may be!" Naruto beamed while glaring amusingly at Sasuke.

"Hn, _dobe_." Sasuke huffed and returned the glare to Naruto, everyone laughed at the glowering princes'. Just as the laughter died down a bit a butler and a maid opened the double doors to the dining room to announce Naruto's parents and more surprise guest.

"Presenting, His Majesty King Minato and her Royal Highness Queen Kushina. Also presenting, His Majesty King Uchiha Fugaku, her Royal Highness Uchiha Mikoto and the young Master Uchiha Itachi." The Butler announced and bowed as said announced people walked past him and the maid to the table, as Minato took to the head of the table, Kushina sat at the exact opposite end of the table and King Fugaku sat to her left with Queen Mikoto to her right and Itachi went to sit in the vacant seat beside his little brother.

"Itachi, Mother, Father! What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked excitedly as his brother, who look exactly like him but older and with what could've been stress lines on either side of his nose, sat next to him and smiled.

"Well the adults have been in a meeting all day, I along with them, they have a little event planned for you and the other young ones." The pale older Uchiha answered his brother and put his hand on his little brother's head.

"Itachi." The Uchiha father called to him giving him a stern look, their father wasn't mean but he wasn't nice, he was very stick in his actions and those of his sons.

"Now now Fugaku, he didn't mention what the event was. He was merely informing Sasuke as to why he was here, you did drag him into that meeting after all." Sasuke's mother chided and laughed at her mean faced husband.

"Yes, you are pretty strict Fugaku-sama, I am sure he is just happy to see his brother and see his face once he and the other young ones hear the surprise." Kushina said and then ran her fingers through her tomato red hair.

"You women are always ganging up on me, I find that hardly fair." Fugaku said looking like he might begin to sulk at any minute.

"Hahahah." The blonde King laughed loudly, "Fugaku you know you walked right into that, they'll defend their children at any cost and the fact that they are best friends says' enough." Minato continued and grinned at his wife.

"Oh shut it Minato!" Kushina said to her husband but then blew him a kiss, he returned the action with a wink. Which Naruto then made a gagging sound at the affection his parents were showing and made everyone laugh, efficiently lightning the mood.

"I apologize, father." Itachi said from the other end of the table once the laughter died down a bit.

"You're fine son." Fugaku simply replied and cracked a smile at his oldest son, just then a maid called their attention at the door.

"Pardon me sirs', but Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya have arrived." She announced from the double doors.

"Ah, Father, Mother you're finally here!" Minato exclaimed as he and the rest of the party stood at their entrance.

"Yes, well, we would have been here earlier but this old lady here had a bit of a bet going on." Jiraiya explained as he glanced at his pale blonde haired wife who was now giving him the death glare.

"Watch what you say you perverted old fart!" Tsunade said and smacked the back of his head before going to take her seat beside Mikoto, as Jiraiya smiled and sat beside Fugaku.

"As crude as ever." Jiraiya mumble under his breath.

"Granny! Where have you been? I have not seen you all day." Naruto excitedly asked his grandmother, his blue eyes gleaming.

"Well, I have been busy will the young ladies for most of the day, or I should say they kept me busy, with going over medical terms and such." Tsunade said and looked over at the smiling princesses with a proud smile.

As they continued with small conversation and witty comments the maids brought the first course of dinner, the appetizer, which consisted of a simple gazpacho and freshly made bread. As they finished their appetizers the maids brought out the main course of the meal, which was a delicious roast garnished with various veggies such as potatoes, carrots, onions and cherry tomatoes. The adults were served red wine, to complement the roast, while the young ones were given a simple sparkling water with lemon.

"Kushina this roast is simply delicious, you must have one of the best chefs in the country!" Sasuke's mother gushed at the red headed Queen.

"Why yes, I suppose you could say that, her name is Kurenai Yuhi along with her young apprentice Ayame Shiru. She is the daughter of that popular ramen vendor in Konoha, run by Teuchi. I shall personally introduce them to you at the end of dinner." Kushina prattled to the raven haired Queen, who was all smiles at the answer.

"So father, what is this other surprise that Itachi-niisan spoke of?" Naruto turned to his father, as the women chattered about castle maids and such. He had tuned them out once their conversation switched to clothing and make-up, all girly things. However after hearing Naruto ask his father said question, everyone stilled their separate conversations and turned to look at Minato expectantly, especially the young ones.

"Well, as Itachi mentioned earlier, we adults were in a meeting to discuss some upcoming events, such as the next summer festival in Konoha." Minato informed his son and the others, though the mention of the summer festival had Naruto and Gaara, as well as the others shifting slightly in their sets.

"Lord Sarutobi has just informed each of the Kingdoms' that the preparations' for said festival are to be underway, even though it is not for another few months." The blonde King continued and smirked at the last part of the sentence.

"Five months to be exact." Fugaku added, while looking slightly amused.

"Yes, that Sarutobi-sama is very thorough and strict when it comes to preparing for huge events." Kushina laughed.

"Though I suppose it is for the best, that way everyone will be accounted for and the towns' people will be sure to get their vending permits and reserved spaces ahead of time." Mikoto noted.

"So, our surprise is in knowing that the summer festival announcements have been sent?" Sasuke asked looking puzzled, Naruto nodded his head in agreement and then turned back to look at his father, with blue eyes that clearly had questions in them along with a trace of fear, try as he might to hide it.

"Hahah, No boys'," Minato chuckled, "Since the summer festival is quite a ways away, we adults decided to hold a separate event at the Uchiha's Castle for you young heirs." He continued and looked at all the bright young faces around the table, whose eyes were currently glued to him with anticipation.

"In our Kingdom?" Sasuke asked looking expectantly at his brother, mother and father.

"Well, tell them Itachi." Fugaku smirked at his oldest son.

"Right, well, the adults have decided to throw a winter ball for all the princes' and princesses in the kingdoms, also any other higher-ups in the neighboring kingdoms." Itachi said smiling at Sasuke and the other, now gleaming and slightly upset, young faces.

"What!" Sakura squeaked.

"Really!" Ino chimed in.

"Dancing, Ugh!" Choji pouted.

"Oh my…" Hinata mumbled and blushed fiercely.

"Too cool!" Tenten clapped.

"Oh man, what a _drag_!" Shikamaru exhaled and slumped over in his seat.

"Woo! This is truly wonderful news, is it not Sakura?" Lee exclaimed and grabbed said princess's hand.

"I-I guess so." Sakura said tripping over her words, clearly blown away by the announcement.

"Exciting." Shino muttered.

"Ugh, that's just great, that means more ballroom dancing practice!" Kiba groaned.

"Adults and their plans." Neji scoffed and smirked.

"Naruto, Sasuke?" Gaara called out to the two quiet princes', who were now blue and red in the face from not breathing, due to the shock of the announcement.

"_Oh great a ball, a winter ball, with everyone who is anyone being invited and those girls, ugh." _The now purple faced Naruto thought. He just barely registered that Gaara was calling his and Sasuke's names.

"_Ugh, that means we're going to be passed from giggling girl to giggling girl and that annoying Karin is just bound to be there as well. Shika was right, this is a drag." _The now pale blue Sasuke thought and felt his brothers' eyes on him.

"_Naruto, Sasuke!_ Snap out of it!" Kushina yelled down to the still frozen princes', who jerked sharply at the sound of her voice successfully causing them and inhaled deeply.

"Father, that… I do not know." Naruto searched for the right words to convey how he felt about the announcement, but failing altogether.

"Mother is this _necessary_?" Sasuke looked down to where his mother was sitting, an amused smile plastered on her face from her son's reaction.

"Well yes son, you all are always so busy with your studies so we thought it would be a good idea to give you some much needed time off and mingle." Mikoto said with an accomplished smirk playing on her lips and then looked at Kushina who shared the same expression.

"This was your doing was it not Mother?" Naruto looked accusingly at his violet eyed mother.

"I _may_ have brought up the idea of a break for my poor son, who is always so hard at work with his studies." Kushina said to her son with a mischievous look playing on her face and then turned her attention to Fugaku, who was sitting with a proud look.

"Yes, you've all have been receiving great reviews from your instructors. Sasuke, Kakashi seemed exceptionally pleased with your progress." Fugaku looked to his youngest son, with the same proud look on his face.

"Thank you Father." Sasuke said and looked across to Naruto who was openly sulking about the whole event, Sasuke wasn't one for dancing and being surrounded by annoying girls, who always practically fought to dance with him, but so was naruto, who always seemed to be in danger of being pulled apart by his arms whenever the girls wouldn't agree to the dancing conditions.

"Naruto, you do not seem too happy about this. You will finally get an extra day off from your tutoring, isn't _that_ something to be excited about?" Minato asked his sullen son.

"No, I am not _un_-happy about this event. It is just that I _always_ seem to be nearly ripped apart by the other higher-ups daughters!" Naruto complained to his father, which, in itself, made everyone laugh, even the princesses because he was right about being almost pulled apart, considering the last ball he attended which ended in his favorite suit being ripped, with no repair in sight.

"Well this is great news to me Minato-sama, I for one am looking forward to it. When is it scheduled to take place?" Ino asked excitedly and glanced at the chubby sulking prince next to her.

"I completely agree this is so exciting!" Tenten second Ino. Though, their question was interrupted by a certain raven haired prince.

"Mother, if I am to attend this ball, please promise me one thing?" Sasuke pleaded to his mother, who was once again chatting away with Kushina about possible hair styles and dresses for the ball and not focusing on the current topic like everyone else.

"It all depends on what that one promise is dear." Mikoto instructed and signaling him to continue with his question.

"Just please, do _not_ invite that Karin, I beg of you!" Sasuke pleaded to his mother again and pinched the bridge of his nose. Karin was a girl that, at every royal gathering or every festival, seemed to always hang onto his arm and if not his arm she was always hovering somewhere close to him. To say she was annoying was a huge understatement. Itachi, however, loved to see how the hot pink hair, glasses wearing noble always seemed to find Sasuke no matter where he went, like she could sense him and chuckled at his little brother.

"_Sasuke! _How rude, she is a very sweet girl and she seems to have taken a serious liking to you. You could not seriously think I would agree to such a request." Mikoto chided her son, but smiled none the less at her sons' plea.

"Sasuke, that is no way to address Lord Kankaku's daughter." The mean looking Uchiha reprimanded his youngest son.

"But Father and Mother, she is so suffocating. She is always following me around at these events and always telling the other children that she and I are to be married!" Sasuke exclaimed to his parents.

"That is no excuse, she likes you that is all and if I'm not mistaken, most of the girls in the surrounding Kingdoms are quite enamored with all you young gentlemen here tonight." Mikoto smiled to her son, who, along with the other princes', blushed slightly.

"What's this, are all you boys' blushing?" Itachi laughed at the young princes' and the princesses joined in with him.

"You guys should be honored that you are so popular, this should be fun for you all." Tenten said.

"Getting nearly pulled apart by feuding girls is hardly fun Tenten, you should try it sometime." Naruto said glowering slightly at the spiky pigtailed princess, who only laughed at his reply.

"But Naruto, it is all in good competition." Lee smiled at the blonde prince.

"So w-when is this ball s-scheduled to take p-place Minato-sama?" Hinata asked quietly.

"We decided to have it after Christmas on New Year's Eve. The invitations are also to be sent out tomorrow." Minato answered the shy princess.

"Oh man! That is just a couple weeks away!" Kiba exclaimed.

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled on the verge of falling asleep.

"This means extra practice for an event that is meant as a day off." Gaara commented.

"So it would seem." Neji agreed with him and smirked.

"I just hope there is plenty of food there." Choji said while finishing off his fifth helping of roast.

"Hahahah, children, this is going to be fun I promise." Kushina smiled softly at the smiling and sulking children. As they finished talking about the upcoming ball, the dessert was served, which was a simple chocolate ganache cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. As they finished their dessert, the adults conversed openly about the set up of the ball.

"Itachi, are all the Uchihas' going to be attending the ball?" Sasuke asked his older brother.

"Yes, they are. Well, the ones that can make it that is." Itachi said, though he seemed a little far away at his question.

"Wow _teme_, the whole Uchiha clan might be there. You better not embarrass yourself in front of them." Naruto joke at the pale raven.

"Shut up _dobe_!" Sasuke glared at the sun-kissed prince.

"You two are insufferable, how two people who feud so much can be the best of friends is beyond me. Maybe you are cranky from a lack of sleep?" Minato said to the two fussing princes' and shook his golden hair.

"Well with that being said, children, I believe it is time for you all to retire for the night don't you think?" Kushina announced.

"But mother!" Naruto protested.

"No buts! Now march off to the bathrooms and get ready for bed, you as well young ones." Kushina demanded her son, and then turned to smile softly but menacingly at the other children.

"Yes mother." Naruto said and stood to excuse himself along with the other children. "If you will, excuse us Fugaku-sama, Lady Mikoto, Itachi-oniisan, Mother, Father, we will all retire for the night now." Naruto said and headed for the doors, which were opened for him by a maid. The other children, plus Itachi, made their excuses and followed after Naruto.

"Itachi you stay, well still have things to discuss." Fugaku said to him as he stood to leave.

"Yes, Father." Itachi sighed as he sat back down, not wanting to talk anymore on events or political issues tonight.

"Man Naruto, I forget sometimes how strict and scary your Mother can be. She reminds me of my mom." Shikamaru said with his eyes drooping sleepily, as the dining room doors closed behind them and they made their way to the main staircase.

"Yeah I know, and it is only 8 o'clock! I'm not even _close_ to being tired, especially with that winter ball and summer festival announcement they threw at us still in my head." Naruto complained and leaned against the railing of the grand stairs, prompting everyone to stop along with him.

"Yes, that is something to think about. Indeed it is." Shino said as he adjusted his dark glasses.

"I w-wonder if that m-means the dancing classes will s-start tomorrow then?" Hinata chimed in, while standing slightly behind Shino. Well it was more like she was hiding behind him, as she asked her question.

"Aw man, I hope not. I _hate_ dancing and I know Lady Kushina will not let me sit this one out." Choji grumbled.

"Come on Choji, this will be fun! I hope we start lessons tomorrow, I haven't practiced dancing since the last ball, and I'll definitely need to brush up on my lessons." Ino said and put her hand on the chubby prince's shoulder.

"Yeah _Ino-pig_, you already have two left feet! You will need to practice twice as hard when you get back home." Sakura laughed and smiled smugly at the pale blonde haired princess.

"No one asked you _billboard brow_!" Ino screeched and glared at Sakura while blushing.

"And we will have to deal with their _bickering _the whole time." Kiba sighed and went to sit on the stairs. Shikamaru followed his lead and sat down beside him.

"Well I for one am looking forward to it. I will be able to see people I haven't seen in such a long time!" Tenten quite literally almost cheered and clapped her hands.

"Like Temari?" Gaara asked and smirked at Tenten, who blushed at his question. He knew about her fascination with his older sister, who also had an obsession with the spiky pigtailed princess.

"Oh _quiet_ Gaara! I'm not just excited about seeing her. I can't wait to see other people to!" Tenten exclaimed at the black-rimmed eyed prince, who was still smirking. Whether from her reaction or lie about wanting to see others besides his sister, she didn't know.

"_Sure_." Gaara chuckled.

"Hmm, Hinata, you know this will be Hanabi's first ball. That is, if father lets her attend." Neji said to his sister who was still slightly hidden behind Shino.

"Oh, that's r-right. I hope Father l-lets her come, she will have great time." Hinata agreed with her brother.

"I think this is all just an excuse for the adults to show us off and throw an over the top ball." Sasuke said and shook his head.

"Whatever the case may be, this is truly a great time see our fellow young spirits." Lee said happily.

"I suppose, though I still don't like the mention of the summer festival. I know my parents will _not_ let me skip out this year." Naruto said sadly and turned to head up the stairs. The others looked at each other and then to Gaara, who simply shook his head and followed Naruto up the stairs with the others right behind him.

"Well boys', we will see you in the morning." Sakura said as the girls came to a stop in front of one of the bathrooms to shower and retire for the night.

"Alright, we'll see you at the _dancing lesson." _Naruto said and grimaced at the last two words, "I'm sure my mother will inform one of the maids on what time to wake you all up." He continued, and then bowed his farewell to the princesses, who did the same and said good night to all the boys' as well. However Hinata, Sakura and Ino stayed behind to personally say goodnight to Shino, Lee and Choji, who also stayed behind.

"Goodnight Hinata, sleep well." Shino said to the blushing princess, and then kissed her hand.

"G-goodnight Shino." Hinata said and then proceeded to give him a peck on the cheek.

"Goodnight my _lovely _Sakura, may you have pleasant dreams." Lee grinned and kissed her on the palm of her hand, then closed it in on itself.

"Lee, you have a goodnight too." Sakura said with a blush and stood on her toes to kiss Lee on his forehead, he then smiled brightly.

"Goodnight Choji." Ino smile warmly, then also kissed him on his chubby swirled tattooed cheek.

"Goodnight Ino." Choji blushed slightly and proceeded to kiss both of her hands. After their farewells were said, the boys turned to continue down the hall after the others and the girls walked into the bathroom.

As Choji and Shino hurried down the halls to catch up with the other princes', Choji stopped at the bedroom he had been in earlier and told Shino and Lee that he would go straight to bed instead of shower because he was too tired to do so. Shino and Lee only nodded their responses and continued down the hall, and saw the other princes' turn to enter one of the changing rooms that lead to a main bathroom. As they walked into the changing room the remaining boys' were being undressed by the maids, they then turned to smirk and grin at them.

"Are you done saying goodnight to your _sweetheart?__"_ Kiba joked and elbowed the sunglasses wearing boy in his side.

"It would seem that way wouldn't it? Yes, I suppose it did." Shino retorted to the triangle tattoo faced prince.

"Man Shino, can you _ever_ give a straightforward answer?" Shikamaru yawned and turned back to the frustrated maid, who had pulled on his shirt in order to get him to stand up straight and finished taking off the complex garbs.

"Yes Shino, I would also like to know." Neji smirked and undid the tie at the end of his ponytail, letting his long hair flow freely.

"Hmph, nosey." Shino huffed and smiled slightly at Neji, which had all the boys' laughing hysterically.

"And you Lee? Are you content in saying goodnight to your _sweetheart?" _Naruto said as the maid finished undressing him, leaving only his boxers on and he walked towards the very grand bathroom, which was truly fit for a king. The floors and fixtures in the bathroom were all a blackish grey marble, that stopped at a glass floor to ceiling window, and the tub, which was specifically built for at least ten people, was raised two feet off the tiled floor and had equally marbled steps leading up to its edge.

"Of course I am Naruto! It would be _crazy_ for me not to be!" Lee said shouted excitedly, as he and the other, now undressed princes' followed him.

"Sheesh Lee, how old are you? And you're already talking like a love stricken teen." Sasuke rhetorically asked the bubbling bushy browed boy. The boys laughed loudly at his accusation and proceeded to get into the huge bath, which the maids had run for them while undressing them. The boys' were indeed young all of them were at least eight and nine years old. The boys' continued to pick on Lee and Shino about their _love_ interests and plotted ways to embarrass Choji on the subject as well. Though all the while Naruto and Sasuke were stealing glances at each other, as were Neji and Gaara, but they would never admit to anyone that they were.

Once they were all done bathing, they were finally able to prepare themselves for the night without the maids help, because putting on the fine silk pajamas was hardly anything that required help with.

"Man, I'm still really not looking forward to an _extra_ lesson tomorrow." Naruto groaned, he was very good at ballroom dancing, but he still didn't want to have a lesson on it the following day.

"This is really a _drag_, and here I was looking forward to sleeping in for the majority of the day tomorrow." Shikamaru mumbled already half asleep.

"You shouldn't be complaining Shika, one more lesson won't kill you and sleeping too much can't be good for you. Speaking of which, do you even go to the lessons your parents assign you at home?" Kiba asked the nearly sleepwalking prince.

"Yes I do, but it is hardly worth it. I already know more than the tutors my parents hire for me, my mother is proud and all, but I know she's getting tired of finding and replacing so many so soon. This is even more troublesome for me." Shikamaru said in a very bored tone.

"How could someone so smart be so _lazy_?" Gaara chimed in with an amused expression at what he'd just heard.

"Very funny Gaara, I don't see _you_ jumping for joy, like Lee, at the upcoming events." Shikamaru said and turned to the teal eyed prince behind him, with an accusing look on his sleepy, mainly sleepy, face.

"The winter ball I don't really have any quarrels with, the summer festival, however, I do." Gaara explained himself.

"So am I to believe that you are actually looking forward to this ball?" Neji asked Gaara in blatant disbelief.

"Not in particular, though I hope that by my attending the ball my parents will allow me to miss this year's summer festival." Gaara said in a hopeful voice, which was still somehow very monotone.

"Sure, like that will work." Choji chuckled, at which Gaara just shook his head.

"I wonder who decided it should be at my home, though I think I already know the answer to that." Sasuke sighed.

"You mother is a good candidate Uchiha." Shino stated.

"That was pretty much already figured out Shino, though I think my mother had something to do with it as well." Naruto said as he came to a stop in front of his bedroom, "Well I guess I'll just call it a night, I'll see you all at breakfast." He continued and turned to enter his room.

"Right." All the boys' said in unison. All except Sasuke, who was currently leaning against a wall staring at a certain blonde.

"What are you staring at Sasuke?" Naruto glared slightly at the still raven.

"Who else could I be looking at _dobe_? We're the only two here." He sassed back with an onyx brow raised.

"Well, _Teme_, don't just stand there staring at me. It is creeping me out." Naruto grumbled and absentmindedly scratched the back of his head.

"Oh really, I'm creeping you out am I?" Sasuke questioned as he pushed himself away from the wall and walked to stand right in front of the slightly blushing blond.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. A blush slowly crossing his tanned cheeks and took a step back, only to step into the double doors that lead to his room.

"I want to know how much I _creep_ you out Naru-kun." Sasuke smirked using the nickname the adults had given him. This made the blonde blush even harder. The raven then placed both of his hands on either side of the whisker faced prince and leaned slowly closer to him.

"You creep me out a lot Sasu-kun." Naruto glared at the approaching pale prince and used his nickname in response as well_. 'Oh no, my heart is starting to race. And his face is so close.' _The now slightly panting blonde thought.

"Hn, does this creep you out as well?" The raven now whispered into Naruto's ear, he then proceeded to lick the shell of his tanned ear slowly. This in turn, made him shiver at the sensation, which traveled right to the pit of his stomach and moan quietly. _'Hm, so he liked that huh?'_ Sasuke thought.

"Nnnn…S-Sasuke, what are you doing?" Naruto gasped and reflexively closed his eyes. _'Wait, why does this feel so good, should it feel good?'_ Naruto thought. When he opened his eyes again they immediately connected with deep onyx eyes and a mischievous smirk on pink lips.

"Are you still crept out by my staring at you dobe?" Sasuke asked in a hushed voice. _'He looks so cute right now, this is pretty amusing.'_ The pale prince thought with his face still very close to the blonde.

"And if I am?" Naruto questioned.

"Then I'll just have to make you think otherwise." Sasuke told him and smirked even wider. _'And I have just the idea to make him give in.'_ He thought.

"How could you-" The blonde began to ask before he was silenced by a searing kiss from the raven prince. _'I knew he would do this! But, I actually like kissing him like this, is this right?'_ Naruto questioned.

The tanned prince then brought his hands up to grip on each of the ravens' arms, the fact that they were doing this in the hallway, where a guard could stroll down and catch them at any moment, hadn't even occurred to them. Said raven then slowly slid a hand up to cup the blushing blondes' face and deepened the kiss, he then slid his tongue across the blondes bottom lip and proceeded to bite at it, which in turn caused him to gasp and successfully allowing the raven to submerge his tongue into his moist cavern. Naruto moaned softly into Sasuke's mouth as their tongues inexpertly twisted around each other, effectively drawing out a surge of pleasure from each other. But soon enough they parted for a breath of much needed oxygen and none too soon, as they both stood there in a loose embrace, they heard the sound of people talking from down the hall. The two panting prince's immediately froze.

"The young ones have been improving considerably lately, don't you agree, Orochimaru?" A man asked from down the hall.

"Yes, I do Asuma. Young master Sasuke has been sparring almost non-stop with eldest Master Itachi." Orochimaru agreed in a creepy slivery tone.

"Crap, teme! Asuma and Orochimaru-sensei are coming!" Naruto whispered quickly and twisted away from the still frozen raven.

"Hn, calm down dobe, they will not reprimand us for being up." Sasuke told him and took a step back from the panicking blonde. Hearing this, Naruto calmed slightly knowing that he was right, Asuma was never really one to scold him for fraternizing in the halls after hours. However, he didn't know whether or not the same could be said about Sasuke's creepy instructor, who looked more snake like than human and always seemed to lick his lips hungrily whenever he looked at the blonde or the raven. As Naruto thought what he said over he leaned back against the double doors, just as the instructors rounded the corner. Though, they were still caught up in their previous conversation.

"Hmm, I should guess so, those two are very talented. As is young Master Naruto, he trains with almost all the male guards and Anko as well." Asuma said and chuckled at the last part. The woman he spoke of was a very outspoken and serious woman, who never liked to be treated as some delicate flower just because she was a woman. She was always a willing participant when it came to Naruto's physical training.

"Yes, Anko is very special case isn't she," The yellow eyed instructor agreed, only to cut himself off once his eyes' fell upon two certain pairs of onyx and cerulean eyes', "Well well, what do we have here?" He continued and asked aloud. Causing the other raven haired instructor to look at him questionably and then followed his gaze until he two spotted the two rule breaking princes'.

"Young Masters', what may I ask are you two doing up and roaming the halls at this hour?" Asuma asked them with a slightly surprised look on his face, as he spoke the unlit cigarette hung precariously from his mouth.

"W-we actually just returned from the bathroom, in preparations of retiring for the night sensei." Naruto slightly stuttered.

"Is that so, then, where are the other young masters?" Orochimaru inquired cocking his head slightly, followed by an amused smirk crawling across his pale lips.

"They have gone ahead of us and retired already, Naruto and I were just recapping today's events sensei." Sasuke expertly lied to the two instructors.

"Very well, however I must ask that you two end this session now and also retire for the night. Genma will be making his rounds soon and not even I or Orochimaru can persuade him from his punishable ways, seeing as how you two are up so late." Asuma instructed them in a stern voice. Genma was just one of the many castle guards, though his versions of punishment always varied from embarrassment in front of the any heirs that may be present, to extra grueling practice. Whichever one it may be, they were never wanted. Therefore, the two sneaky princes' nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yes Asuma-sensei." Naruto agreed.

"Hn, Understood," Sasuke smirked, the threat of getting caught by Genma not even phasing him, "Good night Naruto, I'll see you at breakfast." He continued and slightly bowed at the now droopy eyed blonde.

"Good night to you as well Sasuke, Asuma and Orochimaru-sensei." The whisker faced prince bowed to them.

"Good night young master Naruto." Asuma bowed deeply.

"Pleasant dreams young master Naruto," Orochimaru bided and bowed deeply as well, then he turned to the pale prince, "Now, young master Sasuke, we'll accompany you back to your quarters." He instructed and only received a sleepy nod from said prince. The three then turned and continued down the hall, until they disappeared around a far corner. As Naruto watched he absentmindedly placed his hand on his now slightly swollen lips, _'Wow, that was even more intense than before. I wonder where he learned how to kiss like that, surely Itachi-niisan isn't teaching him anything too bad. Right?'_ He thought and then turned to head into his room for the night.

A few hours later as Naruto lie in his huge bed, that was big enough to hold about five others comfortably, it began to rain and thunder loudly. '_Man, it would have to rain tonight after father made that announcement'._ He thought to himself, just then his room door opened slightly and his parents poked their heads in to check on him. He faked as though he were asleep, though from the position of his bed his parents couldn't tell if he actually was.

"Do you think it was a good idea to mention the summer festival tonight dear?" He heard his mother ask his father.

"Honey, he is growing up, we cannot protect him from everything and it was best to mention it tonight, so that he may possibly mentally prepare himself for it." His father whispered back to his mother, who sighed deeply before answering.

"I know Minato, but he's still so young, something like that should never have happened." She mentioned, venom seeping into her voice, but clearing as she continued, "And besides that…. It's raining and thundering tonight as well, I still remember how he use to run too us during times like this." His mother whispered.

"I know." His father simply replied, though he could hear the sadness, regret and anger in his voice as well.

"Minato?" His mother whispered. He waited for his father to reply, but instead he only heard a very light click. He looked up to see that his door was once again closed, he sat there looking at the door remembering how he, indeed, use to run into his parents room every time it rained, because after the incident when he was five, lightning always made him remember that horrible night and it seriously frightened him to no end. He only recently stopped running to his parents last year, thanks to a certain someone. After what seemed like hours of sitting there remembering, he then slid to the edge of his bed. His mind set on finding that certain person who, now, made him happy during nights such as these.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So? What did you think of the new product of mine the LimeBerry? It has just the right amount of sweetness and sourness for this chapter! Well, let me know what you think! And for those who gave me suggestions for future plots in this story, i reviewed my pre-written story and found that i might indeed have room to add somethings! You will just have to continue to read to find out how it unfolds. Also, a lot of things will be explained in the next chapter! So stay tuned!

**Please note**: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

**P.s. **I would have had this chapter up earlier but all i'll say is this "**NEVER** share a computer with you twin sister/brother in my case sister. She alomst killed my bunnies with her comstant bickering! But i managaed to save them! Lucky for all of us!

**P.s.s. **I now know how some authors up here can hate this site, I alsomst threw my laptop through the window because it just would **NOT** let me add this chapter! :[

- Anna Uzumaki


	3. Thunder Storms

**AN: **Here it is people! The third chapter as promised! This chapther originally was _VERY_ short, but , since I love my readers, I decided to go back in and add a few extra tid-bits, including a Lime! Admitt it, you love me! :D Well, without further-a-do here is your drugs, enjoy!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Deidara, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama, slight child abuse & possible rape.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter 3**

**Thunder Storms**

_Time to cash in on my part of the bet teme', _he thought as he slid out of bed and hurriedly to his bedroom door to open it. He stuck his head out the door to see if there were any guards in the hall, or anyone else that might stop him from roaming the halls. Once he saw that there was no one there, he crept down the long halls. However, once he had gotten about half way down the long corridor, from his room, he quickly ducked behind a large vase to avoid being seen by a guard wearing a headband as a cap, leaving his hair sticking out from underneath and a senbon in his mouth come from around the far corner. _'Genma-san, man if he catches me I'm finished!' _Naruto thought as Genma continued down the hall, passed the hiding blonde and turned the corner. Once he was out of sight, Naruto quietly continued down the hall.

As he continued down the hall and around the corner Genma had came from, he suddenly stopped once he heard voices coming from Iruka's room, _'what is Iruka sensei still doing up and who is he talking to?' _he thought and stepped closer to the door to eavesdrop. It was almost 1am and usually the only persons that would or should be up at this time, were the guards, who were as seen already on constant patrol of the huge castle.

"Why are you still here?" Iruka said to someone.

"Because I want to play love, why else do you think I came here today?" Another man answered.

"Kakashi, I'm not in the mood for your 'Games' tonight." Iruka sighed, which sounded somewhat shaky. _'Why is Kakashi sensei in there? Probably planning some sort of game for tutoring.' _Naruto thought, and then made the mistake of groaning loudly at the thought, which made the now talking Kakashi cut his sentence short.

"Are you sure my Iruka? I'm sure I can cha-" Kakashi stopped once he heard a groan outside the door. "What was that?" Kakashi questioned.

'_Crap!'_ Naruto thought and ran down the hall only to quickly duck behind yet another vase, just as Kakashi opened the bedroom door and stepped into the hall.

"The young heirs are asleep are they not Iruka?" Kakashi asked as Iruka came to stand beside him, Naruto saw that he was shirtless and had a red mark on his chest that looked like it might have been a bug bite or a scratch.

"Yes, they should be or better yet, they better be." Iruka threatened as he walked back into his room. He knew not to suspect the any of the guards of eaves dropping, well maybe with the exception of Genma, but that wasn't very likely, seeing as they had just previously conversed with him and sent him back to his patrolling. If Genma valued his life, he wouldn't eaves drop on the fondling couple with the chance that Iruka would catch him.

"You're so cold my little dolphin. Let's see if I can change that." Kakashi practically purred and slapped the retreating brunettes butt.

"_Kakashi!"_ Iruka hissed and closed the door.

'_What was that all about?' _Naruto thought as he continued down the hall and rounded yet another corner, once he rounded the corner he continued just a little further down until he came to the room he was looking for. He thought about knocking on the door, but quickly decided against that thought, for he might wake the wrong person up or bring a guard to investigate said noise. So, he quietly opened the door and stepped in. As he closed the door behind him lightning flashed, efficiently lighting the whole room up, and crackled loudly causing Naruto to frighteningly jump and cringe into the door. The prince in the bed only shifted slightly at the crackling thunder. However, Naruto couldn't tell whether he had been awaken by the booming thunder or not from where he was standing. _'Is he asleep? And if he is, how could he sleep through this storm?' _Naruto thought as he crossed the huge room to the equally huge bed and stopped at the foot of it.

As he looked into the bed he could now see that the prince was indeed still asleep, he then moved quietly over to the edge of the bed and looked at the pale, raven haired prince sleeping soundly. _'Wow, he is so pretty when he is sleeping." _Naruto thought and gazed at him, _'Wait, what did I just think, I just thought how pretty he looked. Well, he is pretty good looking, his whole family is.' _Naruto thought. He softly shook his head and reached over to shake the pale figure gently, but the raven didn't budge to such gentle efforts. He then shook the raven slightly harder, until finally Sasuke stirred and blinked his eyes sleepily.

"Naruto?" Sasuke questioned his voice full of sleep.

"No, I am Naruto's ghost." The blue eyed prince joked at Sasuke's question and proceeded to roll his eyes at the foolish inquiry.

"What are you doing in here _dobe_? Do you know what time it is?" Sasuke asked and glared at the tanned prince that interrupted his peaceful sleep, though the glare was only half hearted as he was still half asleep.

"Oh shut up _teme_, I am here on behalf of our little bet, it is time for you do me one favor." Naruto said and smirked in the dim lit room, choosing to ignore the weak glare directed at him.

"_Ugh_, Naruto! Can this wait until the morning?" Sasuke grumbled and turned away from the whisker faced prince and pull the covers up over his head. Only to have said prince, yank the covers off of him.

"No, it cannot, now get up!" Naruto whispered and pounced on the edge of the bed in another attempt to get the groggy prince up.

"_Dobe!"_ Sasuke hissed, but none the less sat up and slid to sit on the edge of the bed, "What is it?" Sasuke grumbled and glared at the smirking blonde, he simply looked at the sun-kissed boy in front of him, _'Hn, he looks different, he looks… sexy. Hn, but he always has been cute.'_ Sasuke thought and ran his hand through his duck butt hair.

"Come with me." Naruto told the sleepy looking raven. He then turned and headed back towards the double doors of the bedroom, mainly in an attempt to hide the slowly growing blush on his cheeks.

Sasuke simply sighed and pushed himself off the high bed, then followed Naruto to the bedroom door. Once they reached the door Naruto motioned too Sasuke to keep quiet, as he opened the door, he slowly stuck his head out and quickly looked down the hall. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he turned back around and motioned for Sasuke to follow him. As the two sneaky princes' tip-toed down the hall and back around the corner, they neared Iruka's room again. As they got closer to the door they could once again hear faint noises coming from the room, almost as if someone was moaning, not painful moans but sound they couldn't place, although Naruto thought it sounded somewhere along the lines of when he and the perverted raven had been basically making-out in front of his room earlier. The two princes' quietly stopped in front of the door and looked at each other with puzzled looks.

"What is that noise?" Sasuke whispered Naruto, who gave him a look as if to say _'like I would know'_ or _'You should know.'_

"I don't know, Kakashi sensei was in there when I came by earlier though." Naruto told the raven in an equally hushed voice.

"Why?" Sasuke asked again, which in turn earned him another exasperated look from the blonde prince.

"Does it look like I know _teme_?" Naruto grumbled at Sasuke and punched him lightly in the arm.

"Well this is your castle _dobe_ you should know what's going on here." Sasuke said and returned the punch with a light push.

"Well I don't, now shut up! I am going to crack the door so we can see what they are doing." Naruto told the raven, who only shook his head and yawned lightly.

Naruto carefully and ever so quietly turned the door knob, then pushed the door open, thankful that none of the doors in the castle creaked. He opened the door just enough for both of the princes' to see the naked backside of Kakashi on Iruka's bed, who was hunched over the back of Iruka. Iruka, who was on his hands and knees, was just as equally naked as the silver haired instructor. As the two peeping princes' watched in shock as Kakashi glided back only to thrust forth back into Iruka, they now understood that it was the brunette instructor who was doing the moaning they had heard outside, well most of it anyways, while Kakashi simply grunted with each thrust he made into the quivering brunette. As Kakashi grunted with each trust, Iruka moaned even more until the white haired instructor put two of his fingers into said brunettes' mouth to suck, which in turn caused his moans to be muffled.

The shocked princes' hastily closed the door, not forgetting to be quiet and raced down the rest of the hall and around the corner until they came to Naruto's room. They quickly opened and closed the door, then stood there panting heavily and tried to process what they'd just seen.

"What… the heck… was _that_?" Naruto panted, though it was pretty obvious, even to him. He just didn't want to comprehend it right away.

"It looked… like they were…." Sasuke panted and trailed off, though he also knew exactly what they were doing. From what Itachi had told him obviously, though how his older brother knew, he himself didn't even want to know.

As they still stood by the door, the lightning and thunder continued furiously. Which made Naruto jump and remember why he had brought Sasuke back to his room, it wasn't that he was afraid of the thunder anymore, but he knew that after hearing his parents talking he didn't want to sleep by himself.

"I did not know Kakashi and Iruka-sensei were like that." Naruto said, having finally caught his breath.

"I know, I was wondering why Kakashi-sensei was here today. I guess we know why now." Sasuke said and went to sit in a chair by the floor to ceiling window, Naruto followed only to sit across from him on his bed.

"Well, now having seen that. Why did you call me down here _dobe_?" Sasuke asked the lounging blonde, already knowing the answer.

"Uh well…. I..." Naruto mumbled.

"That is not an answer _dobe_." Sasuke sighed. He looked at the blonde prince and noticed something, "Are you blushing?" He continued and cocked his head at his question.

"No! Shut up _teme_!" Naruto blushed even more and turned his face away from the staring raven. He then felt his bed sink beside him and looked over to see the pale onyx eyed boy next to him.

"Naruto," Sasuke said quietly, having already known why Naruto asked him to come. This wasn't the first time naruto had asked him to sleep with him when the weather was like this, but he knew Naruto hated to ask.

"Yeah," The whisker faced prince sighed, "It's just that my parents came in when they thought I was asleep and I heard them talking about how I use to run to their room when it was like _this_ outside." Naruto admitted and motioned to the window at the heavily falling rain and rolling thunder.

"_Dobe_, you do not have to be ashamed about asking me to sleep with you, especially during times like this, I understand." Sasuke said and mussed the sulking prince's hair.

Naruto Laughed, internally grateful that the pale prince understood his request, and climbed further up onto his bed, Sasuke slid across to the other side and laid beside him.

"Don't you get tired of doing this whenever the weather is like this?" Naruto asked as they settled beneath the large comforter.

"No, I don't. Why would I?" Sasuke answered and in return questioned the cerulean eyed blonde.

"Well, because I usually always wake you up. I know you'd much rather still be sleeping." Naruto answered while looking so crestfallen, that is made the ravens heart clench uncomfortably in his chest. Sasuke then pulled the sulking prince into a tight embrace.

"Dobe, I'd much rather be here with you when you are frightened, than be sleeping." Sasuke admitted and ran a hand through Naruto's sunshine locks.

"Teme." Naruto muttered as the previous blush he had been trying to conceal broke across his face and he buried his face into the ravens midnight blue silk pajamas. _'He's always saying such embarrassing things! But, I guess that just part of being my best friend.'_ He thought and smiled to himself knowing that the raven wouldn't be able to see him.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked and placed his head on top of the blondes. _'He truly is silly, he should know by now that I'd do anything for him.'_ He thought and smirked into sunlight.

As the two princes' lay there in peaceful silence, other than the raging storm outside, they were still in each other's embrace very contempt. Neither knew whether the other was yet asleep or not, but Naruto felt he should get in one last word or two before he fell asleep, which would be at any moment as he fought to keep his eyes open.

"Thanks Sasuke." Naruto mumbled as he started to fall asleep.

"No problem, Naruto." Sasuke said, _'Anytime.'_ He thought and pulled Naruto closer into him, with his arms still encasing the blonde. He picked up doing this whenever naruto would ask him to sleep with him.

The first time he did this was when Naruto cried quietly during a horrible thunder storm a few months after the summer festival, when he turned six. Though to say that Sasuke was only somewhat surprised when Naruto first scrambled into his bed during a storm would be an understatement, the only reason Naruto hadn't dragged pale prince back to _his_ room was because his parents had decided to visit the Uchihas' Castle, just barely two months after the tragic event had happened. The blonde prince had came all but sprinting into the ravens bedroom and scurried into his bed with tears streaming down his just barely healed scarred cheeks. The pale prince dare not to leave the shivering tanned prince alone in order to seek out their parents, in fear that he would be even more frightened to be left alone again. So, he instead hugged his best friend close to him in hopes that he would calm down enough to realize that there was nothing to fear. Even since then, no matter which friends' castle they were at, whenever it stormed Naruto would seek the raven out and they would fall asleep in a peaceful embrace.

While Sasuke laid there remembering, he couldn't help but to finally realize that it shouldn't be storming like it was, considering that it was December. The snow that had been falling just this morning would surely turn to dangerously slick ice, come the morning. He then sighed quietly and decided to just follow the blonde into, what he hoped would be, a peaceful sleep.

As Naruto fell asleep, he felt Sasuke kiss the top of his head. Though for all he knew, he could've dreamt that. He was soon having the reoccurring nightmare about the horrible night, four years ago.

The castle had finally fallen silent with all the princes' and princesses finally asleep, with the exception of the patrolling guards. Though, unknown to the guards or anyone else in the Kingdom, there were two figures intently watching the Namikaze Castle from a far and safe distance within a small inn in the castle town.

"Hmm, it has been quite a while since we've last come here." One of the shadowed figures said as they were seated by a window facing towards the castle.

"_Last_ time we were on good terms with Namikaze, well, at least you were. I still am." The second shadowed figure said from across the room on the only bed in the room.

"How lucky you are," The first figure seethed and glared at the lounging shadow, "Though, I suppose it is good that at least one of our identities is still unknown to them." The first figure continued and turned back to looking out the window at the castle, which was just barely visible through the pouring rain.

"Hahah, don't be upset. After all, I could have left you to rot in that prison, unlike our _'Boss'_ at that time, I actually care." The second figure chuckled from the bed.

"You of all people care? Ha! Don't make me laugh." The first figure barked out a harsh laugh and move from the window in favor of a chair at the only table in the room.

"Well then, put it like this. Be lucky that I still have a strong title to uphold, having said that, if I'm even caught meeting with you like this we will both be in deep waters." The second figure threatened.

"Hmm, yes, that would put a rather damper on things I suppose. Though, I'm sure you have some loyal subjects that would just love to be your scapegoat." The first figure mentioned. He was now sitting at the small round table, not really paying much attention to the conversation anymore, sifting through piles of papers, scrolls and the occasional photo.

"There is no need to keep going through those reports. The messages will remain the same no matter how many times you look at them." The second figure said and sat up to sit on the edge of the bed, he eyed the other figure that was only partially visible from the lone candle on the table. This had been, possibly, his tenth time going through those documents within the hour, though the second figure wasn't necessarily keeping count.

"That may be so, however, it also doesn't hurt any to be well informed." The first figure informed the other.

"What more do we need to know? It's not like we do not already know enough as it is, especially you, I'm sure you're already well informed." The second figure mentioned. He then stood to walk over to the table and proceeded to pick up a photo.

"Be that as it may, many years have passed. Some things are sure to have changed." The first figure sighed and placed the documents back on the table. While leaning back in the chair, the first figure eyed the second one as they looked over the photo they had picked up.

"Indeed, things do seem to have changed. Only minimally though, they seem to be faring much better now, honestly, I figured it would take much more time for them to break out of their shattered states. Not to mention that they actually survived, this just further proves that they are perfect for our task at hand." The second figure admitted and flicked the picture back towards the table, "That will only last a few more years, before their psyche and lives are threatened again." They continued with a devilish smirk.

"Must you be so careless with all things that do not interest you?" the first figure muttered as they caught the picture before it floated into the flame of the candle and ignored that last remark.

"Must you be so attached to nonessentials?" the second figure retorted and headed towards the door, "If all you are going to do is look at that information and pictures, then I suppose I no longer need to be here, now do I?" The second figure continued. They paused at the door awaiting a reply they were sure was coming.

"Oh, am I not paying you enough attention my Lord?" The first figure jeered and stood to stride across the room to the other shadow.

"Hn, I am hardly a Lord. Even if I may live within the royal housing surrounding my Kingdoms castle and my vote is thirdly demanded during any new decree. The title of Lord is not mine." The second figure reminded the other as they leaned against the door.

"Always brooding over titles, is the fact you will be, if something should happen to the present king, the new Lord enough? Even more so, as how the current heirs are not of age yet." The figure questioned and wrapped their arms around the others neck.

"Only time will tell, but until then we need to plan accordingly and wait for the right opportunity in which to put our planning into action." The second figure smirked and pulled the other slightly smaller figure towards them.

"I suppose." The first figure sighed and began to kiss along the neck of the second figure.

"Ah, so I take it that this means you want me to stay?" The second figure questioned and tilted their head back to rest on the door, as the other figure nibbled, nipped and licked at their neck.

"Is it not obvious enough?" The first figure replied and continued their assault on the other.

"Hmn." The second figure hummed as the smaller shadow sucked on the others pulse. The taller figure then gripped the others chin and crushed their lips together in a arousal inducing kiss, the other moaned quietly into the others mouth efficiently permitting access into their mouth. Their tongues then danced and battled for dominance, as the kiss deepened the smaller figure gave in and let the slightly taller figure gain full control of the kiss. As they finally broke the kiss for much needed air, the taller figure licked and sucked along the others neck as they slightly stumbled back towards the bed. Once they reached the full sized bed, the taller figure pushed the other down and sought out the full pink lips, which glistened in the candlelight from their previous onslaught.

As the two devoured each other, their hands hungrily began to slide under the silk fabrics of clothing desperately seeking out any bare flesh. The taller figure silently thankful that they didn't wear their usual royal garbs, for they would only hinder the two in their current aroused state, they then released the smaller figures lips in favor of greedily kissing a trail down their sculpted chest and licked over to suck on a pert nipple and none to gently bit down.

"Ma-" The smaller figure began to call out from the painful pleasure of having been bit, only to have the others hand quickly cover their mouth, successfully shutting them up.

"Do not say my name, these walls are far too thin for that and I'm positive the other occupants of that room would recognize it." The second figure warned. Then replace the hand covering the others mouth with lips that burned with pure passion.

"Mmnnn… Ah!" The smaller figure moaned and gasped and they felt a hand slip down into their pants, and began to stroke their hardened length. As the other slowly, painfully slowly, stroked his weeping length, they slowly glided across the slit. This sent him squirming and moaning quietly under the other, he then turned from the searing kiss in an effort to control his moaning and then knotted his hands in the long dark hair that fell around him like a curtain.

"Nnnn…" The dark haired figure hissed as his hair was pulled. He then sat up on his knees and proceeded to remove the small panting figures slacks, then blindingly fast removed his own. Once the articles of clothing were out of the way, he leaned back down to take in the others lips, who then swiftly turned the dark haired man over and straddle him, all the while never breaking the kiss. As the smaller male ground himself down on the other, his shoulder length pale brown hair subtly fell around his face, he then broke the heated kiss and slid down the others chiseled chest and abs until he came to the others rather impressive length. He eyed the throbbing muscle hungrily and slowly licked the leaking member from the base to the wet slit, then took the head of the pulsing shaft into his moist cavern.

"Un, Fuck!" The dark haired male groaned as he felt the hot and wet mouth of the other envelope around his member. The smaller male expertly maneuvered and flattened his tongue around the thick and weeping cock, successfully drawing out hushed moans and low growls from the perfectly sculpted male on the bed, who currently had a hand knotted in his pale brown hair. As the smaller male continued his ministrations, they were suddenly interrupted by a quick rapping on the door. Not one to be taken off guard, the taller male swiftly sat up and grabbed his previously discarded clothes off of the floor and silently instructed the other to do so as well. the smaller male quickly followed his lead and resumed his position by the window, all the while shifting awkwardly to hide his all too prominent arousal, he was sure the taller male was having the same difficulty with his member, though he didn't show it as he went to the door.

"If this is who I think it is they are late," The taller male grumbled as he cracked the door open. As he looked through the door, he looked upon a dripping wet figure with bone white hair and stood just a few inches shorter than himself. "I was right, you're late!" He growled as he let the white haired figure in.

"Hahah, you seem to have forgotten that I have other duties to attend to over there before coming here." The white haired figure retorted and jabbed his thumb to the window, indicating something towards the castle.

"Regardless, you are still late. Now, what do you have to report?" The pale brown male asked as he walked over the table where the other two were now seated.

"Well, to begin, the two targeted princes have been showing… favorable actions. Whether do to hormones or the 'other', I've seen definite changes." The wet figure stated. The taller male smirked evilly, while the other shook his head in muted sadness.

"Just a few more years, then the fun can begin again." The dark haired male smiled.

"I wouldn't call torturing Namikaze's kid and my nephew fun." The pale brown haired man sighed. The thunder then crashed loudly outside and lit-up the dimly lit room.

"It's really coming down out there." The white haired figure pointed out.

"Yes, this kind of weather always reminds me of that fateful night four years ago." The dark haired male said.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Whew! This chapter is starting to reveal some troubling things, you want to know what they are? Well, the wait will be over in the next chapter or so! So, until then, continue to read and _**please**_ **REVIEW**.

**Please note**: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae© are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

**P.s. **I would have had this chapter up earlier but my friends magically decided that our friday night movie night would be at my town house...AGAIN! So we ended up watching 3 movies and eating too much pizza, but it was fun! And now you have your new, late, chapter! Enjoys!

**P.s.s. **I would like to recieve at least **5** more review before i put up the next chapter, So it has been said, So it shall be! So just mash that **REVIEW** button! Dont make yourself or others suffer!

- Anna Uzumaki


	4. Flashback: Summer Festival Pt1

**AN: **Here it is people! The forth chapter, I've been holding this chapter from you for two weeks now! I'm sorry {covers face} It hurt me to do that, but as i said in the last chapter, reviews were {and still are} needed to get me to post further chapters. This chapter was originally longer, but i decided to break it up, dont be mad at me! I'm only thinking of your eyes {wouldnt want you to go blind from staring at the screen for too long} But, i digest.

**TMR:{To my readers}** To those who might think that the children may be behaving at an older age, you must remember {and i'll point out} that this story is placed several years back, during the renaissance times. Back then the children were required to grow up and fast, also they were considered men when they turned thirteen and often married by the time they turned eighteen. So please, keep this in mind when you read further on in the story! The children are all at the youngest nine years old, with the exception of a few siblings to be mentioned later on.

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Deidara, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama, slight child abuse & possible rape.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter 4**

**Flashback: Summer Festival!**

N.P.O.V.

As I sat here with my closest friends, who were, like me, also royal heirs to their Kingdoms, I looked over for the… well to be honest I had lost count on how many times I had looked over at Sasuke, who was as pale as ever and his black hair resembled the backside of a duck to perfection. I tried to pay attention to the play that was going on in front of me, though I have no idea what it was about, since my eyes kept glancing over at a particular someone. I assumed, however, that the play was meant for children because there were too many bright colors, I may be five (and a half) but I am very mature for my age and therefore, things like this bore me to tears. Once again my eyes, which are a very beautiful blue or so I have been told, connected with deep onyx eyes. _Crap, _Sasuke caught me staring at him… again, and, as he usually did when he caught me staring, he smirked at me which always made my breath hitch in my throat.

"What are you looking at _teme_? I hissed. I often called him this when he began to call me…

"You, _dobe." _he mumbled and turned back to the play.

That, _dobe, _it always ticked me off when he called me that! Though since he was my best friend, I let it slide. As the play continued, I seriously wanted to break out and start crying like I had lost my mind, it was just that boring, but I knew I should not attempt that because my mother was right behind me and I knew she would string me up by my ankles at such an outburst. I know she loves me to death, but she is truly scary when she gets mad, she and my close friend Shikamaru's mother were the same in that scary way. Shika, as we call him, was a seriously smart boy with brunette hair that he always had pulled up in a pineapple shaped ponytail. But, man was he _lazy_! I bet if I looked over right now he would be… yep, he is _asleep_, as usual.

"Hey, _teme_, wake Shika." I leaned over and whispered to Sasuke.

"Kiba, wake Shika up before his mother see's him." Sasuke nudged our other close friend with red triangles tattooed on his cheeks, who currently had a little white ball of fur in his lap. That little fur ball, which was named Akamaru, was with him wherever he went and I mean that literally. He once brought him into the bath when we all had visited his castle one time, needless to say I was a little freaked out by that, but he simply said that he might as well clean him while he was in there and that somehow made sense to me, so I let it go and watched the little puppy paddle around the tub.

"Hey, Shika! Wake up man." Kiba whispered and shook him just hard enough to wake him up, I almost burst out laughing when Shika woke up and immediately glared at him.

"Cut it out kiba, this show is already such a _drag_. I do not need you to be as troublesome." Shikamaru said sleepily at Kiba, who only smirked at him.

"Asleep, as always." A familiar voice stated the obvious; I already knew who it was that said it before I leaned over further to look at him.

"That is obvious Shino." Another familiar voice narrated my thoughts.

"Neji, t-that is not nice." A shy voice chimed in, Hinata; she was Neji's youngest sister. Though technically I cannot really say youngest _sister_ because their mother is currently pregnant with the third addition to their grey eyed family, so I have no idea yet as to whether there will be a younger brother or sister.

Thankfully, during my wandering thoughts, the play ended and I hastily got up before another one could begin. My friends got up with me as I hurried away from the outdoor theater, only to be caught by my waist and hoisted in the air. I let out a little scream as my father placed me on his shoulders.

"And where do you think you are running off too, Naruto?" My father asked, I could practically hear the smile, he undoubtedly had on his face, in voice.

"Away from that play father, it was _so_ boring!" I whined into his yellow blonde hair which was the exact same color as mine, though, as others would always say, I was the spitting image of him. I always wondered why people thought I would spit on his image, until my mother had informed me that it simply meant that I looked just like him.

"Hahah, Now son, that's not a nice thing to say." He laughed warmly at my comment.

"Really naruto, considering all the hard work they put into it just for you and the other young heirs." My mother chided me; I looked over to see her deep violet eyes frowning at me, though from the smile on her face, I could tell that she was not angry with what I had said. She must've found it as boring as I did, but was adult enough not to say anything about it.

"I know Mother, Father." I sighed and put my head back on my father's soft hair, also being careful not to knock off his crown.

"Are you hungry Naruto?" My father asked me after a moment of silence.

"Yes!" I nearly shouted and leaned over to look him in the eye, did he honestly think I was not? It was already about 1pm and the last time I ate was at breakfast, which was right before we came here, though it took at least a day to get here from my kingdom to the annual summer festival!

"Well, what do you feel like eating for lunch sweetie?" My mother asked as she pulled her tomato red hair over her shoulder, I often wondered how I would've looked had I been born with her hair color.

"Ramen!" I shouted, I did not care about being loud anymore, I loved ramen and they knew it because as soon as I said it, we were in front of my favorite ramen vendor called Ichiraku. Which was run by an old man named Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, I literally swore by their ramen. I heard a '_Tsk_' from below me and looked down to see Sasuke beside me, who was being carried on his older brother Itachi's back, who came to about my fathers' chest. The copycat. I simply stuck my tongue out at him not wanting to call him by his nickname in front of my mother, because I knew there would be a definite chance of me being snatched down from my fathers' shoulders by her.

As my father stepped up to place our order, I could see the old man's brain going to work as he saw my parents in front of him and me on my fathers' shoulders. He quickly bowed, along with his daughter, who looked at me and smile happily.

"Good evening Teuchi, we would like two adult orders of Miso Ramen with extra pork." My father said.

"Of course Lord Minato, will that be all?" He asked and looked at both me and my parents.

"Yes please." My mother told him.

"Right away, Lady Kushina." Teuchi said. Let me just say this, the only reason why he addressed my parents in such a familiar way, was because we come to his vendor every time we come to Konoha and not just for the summer festival, so my father thusly insisted that since we always came here he should just refer to him and my mother as Lord and Lady 'Given name'. My parents were not mean, but if anyone who was not given the okay to call them that got in trouble, what kind, I do not know.

"So, that'll be two Miso Pork Ramen, coming right up!" Ayame said and smiled at me again, I was use to people always smiling and looking at me, my mother once told me: 'People stare at you because you are so _cute_ and _precious_!'. If she was correct, then everyone must think that because everyone I passed by stared at me and bowed.

"Alright, here are your orders Lady Kushina and Lord Minato." Ayame said handed the orders to my parents.

"Naruto?" My father said to me, which meant that I should give Teuchi the money for the ramen. I normally did this whenever I was on his shoulders, so I took out the wallet my dad had given me, counted out the exact change plus a tip and handed it to Ayame.

"Here you are, Miss Ayame." I said and placed it in her hands, that were not much bigger than mine though she was older than me by at least ten years, and smiled at her.

"Ah! Why thank you very much, young Master Naruto." She said, obviously ecstatic that I had handed her the money and had spoken to her. Now I will say this again, the only reason why she is able to call me by my given name was because my mother, not my father, said that she could do so. If anyone else ever addressed me in such a familiar way without my mothers' consent, she would go utterly ballistic. I know; I saw it happen before, I truly did feel sorry for the person but they should have know better.

My parents thanked them and headed to our private tent, where some of my friends families where already seated with their vendor food. This was the only time where we didn't wait for everyone to be present to begin eating, only because vendor food did not stay hot for long. My mother helped me down from my fathers' shoulders once they had both put the ramen down, as soon as my mother placed me on the bench I grabbed the bowl of steaming ramen, only to have my mother snatch it back away from me. I nearly cried, but I did not because I knew why she did it, I could not necessarily eat it myself, I tried once and let's just say ramen is extremely hot!

As my father sat down beside me I saw my other close friend shoveling down tons of different foods, _'Man, why does Choji have to be such a fatty?'_ I thought, but I would never in a million years say that to him aloud. I made the mistake of doing that a few months ago and ended up getting chased all around his castle yard, thankfully Ino was there to stop him or else I might have been seriously hurt. Ino is another one of my close friends, she's pretty I guess, she has blonde hair which is way paler than mine and blue eyes that are paler than mine as well. She was sitting across from Choji eating a salad with strawberries; she was pretty easy to get along with, except when it came to her best friend Sakura.

Who just so happened to walk in the tent and sit next to Ino, Sakura had light pink hair and sea foam green eyes. She was another one of my close friends, she and Ino are best friends, though they do not act like it when their parents aren't around. Let's just say they argue worse than Sasuke and I, they had nicknames for each other as well, Ino-pig and Billboard brow, _ouch_. Those two are crazy in the extreme. They make me want to never _ever_ like a girl, if all girls were to behave like them that is.

I stopped looking around long enough to notice that my mother was staring at me, possibly wondering why I was not practically pulling on her long red hair to help me eat. My father would've been done had he not been talking, to whom I did not know or really, care at this point; all I wanted was my ramen which I shared with my mother.

"Naruto, are you feeling well?" She asked me, obviously because I was not eating…_yet._

"I'm fine mother, I was just waiting for it to _cool_ down a bit." I lied, which was actually kind of true now that I thought about it. She took a portion of it then and ate it, **twice**,before saying, "It is fine now sweetie, here." She told me and scooped up a smaller helping and fed it to me, it was so delicious! This was hands down my _favorite_ food ever.

As my mother and I continued to eat, the rest of my close friends and their families came into the tent. I then noticed who my father was talking to; it was Shika's parents, Shikaku-sama and Lady Yoshino. Shikamaru sat on the other side of them and as usual he was half asleep, I wandered idly if he was missing some gene that helped him stay awake or if he was just really _lazy_. Neji's family was one of the one's that had just entered the tent, Hinata was beside him and his parents were behind them, their mother was _huge_ to say the least, it looked as though it might hurt to walk, her stomach was its own planet.

As they sat at one of the tables, I felt someone sit really close beside me. I turned around to see nothing but eerie blood red hair, I already knew who it was before they turned to face me.

"Hi, Naruto." Gaara said to me, he was another close friend of mine. He had teal green eyes, weird blood red hair, and permanent black make-up around his eyes and no eyebrows, which I always thought was strange. I had not noticed his family was already in the tent when I came in; I looked around to see them on the other side of the tent with another close friend of mine's family. Tenten, was another girl, she was easier to be around than Sakura and Ino, only because she didn't _argue_ like those two did. She had two spiky brunette pigtails and deep brown eyes.

"Hey Gaara!" I said happily, turning back to him, he only smiled and turned to eat his… actually I don't know _what_ it was, it was deep fried something.

Finally Sasuke, Kiba and my last good friend Lee came into the tent, Lee was a very, better yet, an _overly_ excited boy with seriously bushy eyebrows, which he hands down got from his father Guy-sama. Sasuke came to sit in front of me with his family and Kiba', with his older sister Hana, who was a _bit_ scary if you ask me, but hey that's just me, went to sit beside Shika and as always a little white ball of fur followed close beside Kiba.

"Mikoto, have you tried out this Miso pork from ichiraku? It is simply _delicious_!" My mother exasperated to Sasuke's mother. Time to tune them out, their conversations were even more boring than that play we saw earlier. _Ugh_.

As I sat there, having finished the ramen, I thought about what time it was. I looked over to a clock that was set in the middle of the tent and groaned quietly, it was only 3pm, and we _still_ had a lot of time before the firework show, which signaled the end of the festival.

"What is wrong Naruto?" Gaara asked quietly.

"I was just thinking about how much more time we are going to be here, I am getting sleepy." I told him and yawned, nicely proving my point.

"It is not that bad Naruto; that show was the first event we have gone to since we got here." Sasuke said, I looked across to him and saw that stupid smirk on his face. Though, as usual, by breathing faltered slightly.

"Do not remind me." I sighed at his statement.

While I sat there waiting for my parents to finish their conversations with the other parents, I heard my mother still talking to Sasuke's mother. So, with nothing better to do, I listened in on their ramblings.

"Mikoto, what do you think we should take the children to do next?" Mother asked Sasuke's mother, who he resembled a lot considering that he was a boy.

"Well, how about we break up into groups firstly? I know that some children do not want to see the same things as others." Lady Mikoto asked then giggled.

"That is a great idea! Now let us see…" Mother said then looked around the tent, "How about two groups of eight or so?" She continued and faced back to Lady Mikoto.

"Sounds good, how will we divide them though?" She asked my mother.

"Hmm, Minato?" My mother called for my fathers' attention, who was _still _talking to Shikaku-sama. I leaned over to see that Shika was _actually _awake and was talking to Kiba, who was grinning so hard it looked almost painful.

"Pardon me Shikaku," My father said, which bought my attention back to the previous conversation, "Yes Kushina?" Father continued and turned to mother.

"Mikoto and I where just discussing on splitting up into two groups of eight children for the remainder of the festival, do you have any take on how we should make-up each group?" Mother asked him.

"Hmm, well how about just like this?" Father said and motioned with his right hand, which drew or better yet made a cutting motion across half of the tent. I was a little confused, until I saw that how he motioned his hand equally divided the tent up into two groups of eight 'children'.

"That sounds good." Lady Mikoto agreed, "Fugaku, would you like to make the announcement, on the groups?" She continued and turned to Sasuke's Father, who always seemed to look a little mean.

"You women came up with the idea, so why must I be the one to announce it?" Fugaku-sama asked and looked like he was sulking, I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from giggling. Though Lady Mikoto, and my parents laughed loudly at him.

"Now Fugaku, you should have been prepared for them to drag you into this after they asked my opinion." Father said to him and chuckled again.

"I suppose you are right Minato, what would you do without me?" Fugaku-sama agreed with father, then turned to his wife and, to my disbelief, actually smirked. Which made Lady Mikoto giggle and blush slightly; he then stood up and cleared his throat.

"_Ahem_, attention everyone," He called everyone's attention and paused while they quieted their previous conversations, then continued, "The ladies here have come up with an idea, which is to break-up into two groups of eight, counting children only. The point of this is to allow the young ones a chance to see what they would like at the festival, Minato has already suggested a possible way to divide the groups." Fugaku-sama said and then motioned for father to speak.

"Yes, as Fugaku said, I have decided that we split into groups right down the middle," Father said and made the same hand motion as before, indicating each half of the tent as a group. "This seemed like the easiest way to quickly make the two groups, though if anyone has any other suggestions we'll take it into consideration." Father said and looked around the tent. I already knew no one would have any objections to this because whenever my father made a suggestion, everyone went along with what he said. Father once told me people agreed with him due to the respect they had for him and because his ideas were always agreeable.

"I have no objects to this plan." Lady Karura said and tucked a strand of sandy-brown hair behind her ear; she was Gaara, Kankuro and Temari's mother. Kankuro and Temari were Gaara's older siblings. Kankuro had brunette hair and his face was accented with purple make-up on his chin, cheeks forehead and around his eye's, which I thought was kind of freaky. Temari on the other hand, had four short spiky blonde ponytails and bangs, she always looked so strict.

"Nor do I, Minato." Choza-sama second, he was Choji's father and simply put, he looked like an adult Choji. Size and all.

"Same here." Inoich-sama said he was Ino's father; they also looked exactly alike except that Ino was a girl.

"Agreed." Shibi-sama uttered, he was Shino father and boy were they both the same in giving weird answers to questions. He always wore a hooded cape and the same dark sun glasses as his son.

"That sounds like an incredible idea, we should make it into a race as well!" Guy-sama exclaimed he was Lee's father, he always took excitement to the highest extreme.

"I also have no objection to this." Hiashi-sama said, he was Neji and Hinata's father, though Neji looked just like him whereas Hinata looked just like her mother. So with his answer being said, it was decided that the groups would be made up as how father had mentioned.

"Alright, both groups may leave at any time and we shall regroup at the arena for the fireworks showing." Father informed everyone, who agreed and began discussing what they would see first.

"It looks like we are in the same group as _teme_." I whispered to Gaara and glared at Sasuke with a smug smirk on my face.

"Hahah" Gaara giggled quietly beside me.

"Whatever, _dobe_." Sasuke rolled his eyes at me.

Just then mother placed her hand on my shoulder, I immediately froze and saw Sasuke's mother place her hand on his shoulder to, he stiffened as well. _Crap!_

"_What_ was that Naruto?" My mother asked me, I turned to look at her face, which was eerily smooth. Not good, I had to make up a lie and make it up fast or I was toast!

"I s-said '_belly_' mother." I stuttered, but lied perfectly none the less.

"And what was that _you_ said Sasuke?" His mother asked him with the same look on her face as my mother, when he looked at her his face was smooth and he smiled sweetly. Well he smiled _stupidly_ if you ask me.

"I said '_don't be'_, as in '_don't be _ridiculous', mother." Sasuke told her, he lied better than me, which was so unfair!

"Oh really now?" Both our mothers said in unison, which would have been funny during any other time, but right now, having accidentally called each other our nicknames in front of our mothers', it was just plain scary.

"S-so what event are we going to next mother?" I asked, trying to desperately change the subject, and succeeding.

"Hmm, well how about another play?" Mother said to me, I know she was just kidding with me from the smile I saw on her face, but I just couldn't stop my reaction.

"No!" I, Sasuke and even Gaara, said at the same time my mother asked this, at which she and Lady Mikoto laughed at our horrified reactions.

"Such horrified expressions', no more plays then, okay?" Lady Mikoto said through a giggle, I was so pleased to hear that they wouldn't make us suffer through another one of those sad excuses for entertainment.

"Well, Naruto sweetie, you look a little sleepy, so how about we take a short hay ride so you and the others can rest, while Mikoto and I think up of something else for the group to do?" My mother insisted, which I really had no objection to since I was actually pretty tired.

"Okay mother." I said to her.

Once that was decided, my mother and Lady Mikoto walked down to the rest of our group to inform them on the hay ride idea. I sat there glaring at Sasuke, who was glaring at me first so I had reason to glare back, the other children in our group then came to sit at our table.

"Man, all you two ever do is _glare_ at each other!" Kiba mentioned and the proceeded to hit us both in the arm, it was not meant to hurt it was only meant to get us from staring at each other.

"You guys are so troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled.

"And you're always sleeping shika." I turned to stick my tongue at him, childish I know, but I am five years old after all. I can only act mature for so long before my childish ways get the better of me and my royal vocabulary starts to slip.

"Gaara, what was that you where eating?" Neji asked him and eyed the remaining pieces of his lunch.

"It was deep fried pork, I was good, and you should try it sometime." Gaara said.

"It is good is it not?" Shino repeated, stated, I am not sure, from the other side of Sasuke, who jumped slightly, I guess he did not realize he had sat beside him. Shino was a pro at sneaking up on people.

"Shino! Stop sneaking up of people like that!" Sasuke hissed and put his hand on his heart, yeah, he got scared.

"Hmm." Shino smirked and turned to Hinata, who was sitting on his other side.

"So w-what are we doing f-first Naruto?" Hinata asked quietly and looked over at me, while hiding behind Shino slightly.

"My mother and Aunt Mikoto decided on a hay ride, they said we could use that opportunity to rest while they think of what to do after that." I told her and apparently the others, who had turned to listen in on my reply.

"Now _that's_ something I am looking forward to." Shikamaru smiled, that boy was just _too_ lazy and his vocabulary shifted at that fact.

"You are _too_ lazy Shika!" Kiba repeated my thoughts.

Just then Kankuro and Hana came over to our group, as theirs got up to leave for whatever they had planned first.

"Hey Gaara, our group is going to play some mini game first. Father said he will be coming with us, so mother can go with your group and keep an eye on you." Kankuro said him, then looked over at me and smiled. With all the make-up on his face, he reminded me of a clown and clowns gave me the creeps. I just smiled back at him, because he was actually a pretty nice guy.

"Okay, onii-san." Gaara replied as Kankuro mussed up his hair.

"Same thing with our father Kiba, so _you're_ stuck with mother." Hana laughed, like I have said before, Shika's mother is just about as scary as mine. So Hana laughed knowing she would be able to get away with more things, without getting in too much trouble.

"_Oh man!" _Kiba groaned and proceeded to sulk, which made Hana and everyone else, me included, laugh loudly at him. Kankuro and Hana then turned around to hurriedly catch up to their group. Just as they exited the tent my father and Fugaku-sama came over to us, I had not even noticed when they had gotten up when my mother did.

"Alright kids, are you ready to go?" My father asked us.

"Yes father." I answered him and for the rest of my friends, who I knew were just as ready to go as I was.

Once we all stepped out the tent, my parents grabbed each one of my hands so that I was between them. Sasuke's mother and Itachi did the same thing, as did Shika's mother and Shino's parents'. However, Shika looked like he was embarrassed by holding his mother's hand, but he knew better than to pull away or he would face the consequences. Hinata's mother held her hand as well, while Neji's father held his. Though Gaara was holding on to his mothers dress, she had her hand on his head, then there was kiba who had Akamaru on _his _head, while holding his mothers' hand like the rest of us. Then our group began to make its way toward the hay rides.

As we walked through the festival grounds, passing families said their greetings to us and bowed their respects. When we got closer to where the hay rides were, we heard someone say something that had everyone in the group whipping around in disbelief. Especially me, because I knew first hand at what would happen, should someone ever call out to a royal member with such familiarity.

"Karura, Gaara!" A man, with the same sandy-brown hair as Gaara's mother, called out to them and waved. I looked over to Gaara and his mother, who had happy looks on their faces.

"Uncle Yashamaru!" Gaara exclaimed and released his mothers dress to run to the man.

"Yashamaru, I thought you had business to attend to and therefore could not make it this year?" Lady Karura said to her younger brother.

"Ah yes, as it turns out I was able to finish said business earlier than expected. So, with that done, I decided to come to the festival. Where are my other nephew and niece?" Yashamaru explained then asked.

"We split into two groups in order to see more of the events here tonight; they are in the other group along with Akurei." Lady Karura told him and added Gaara's father on at the end even though he had not mentioned him.

"Hmm, is that so? Well, where, might I ask, are you all headed to?" He asked. I did not miss the uncomfortable look he had on his face at the mention of Akurei-sama. _'Did they not get along?' _I thought to myself.

"We are headed to the hay rides, will you be joining us?" My mother asked.

"Why yes, that sounds like a great idea, I will join you." He said happily to my mother. Then we all turned and continued towards the area where the hay rides were.

When we finally got there, I was almost dead on my feet, I was just that tired. We all then loaded onto separate buggies, as we all could not possibly fit on one, Sasuke, Itachi and their mother got into the same as me and my parents. Fugaku-sama, along with Shibi-sama, Shikaku-sama and Hiashi-sama got onto a separate one, saying something about needing man time, which made my father laugh.

There were three buggies in all that our group occupied, mine included, of course Sasuke, Itachi and their mother, along with Neji, Gaara, his mother and uncle. The second one included the fathers' who, as they put it, needed '_man time'_. Finally the third buggy included Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata and Shino, along with their mothers as well. Then the buggies shifted forward and we were off.

As the buggies began down the planned path, I leaned over to put my head in my mothers' lap and was _inten__t_ on going to sleep. Only when I put my head down, I looked over to see Sasuke looking at me with an amused smile.

"What?" I asked him.

"Come sit by me Naruto." He asked, no, _ordered_ me. The nerve of that idiot! And, to my not so much surprise, my mother and Lady Mikoto _'Awed'_ his request.

"Isn't that _sweet_ Kushina!" Lady Mikoto gushed at my mother, her vocabulary slipping slightly.

"They are so _cute!" _My mother replied and lifted my head from her lap before continuing, "Go on Naruto, go sit by him!" she told me and all but threw me over to sit beside him, she did not actually force me or anything but I was so tired that that is what it felt like. As I went to sit beside him Lady Mikoto offered her set to me and claimed my original seat by my mother, to talk no doubt.

"Naruto, you look exhausted." Itachi said. He had watched me slug my way over here, while the buggy was still moving, and plop beside Sasuke.

"I am not _too_ tired; I could use a nap though." I told him, which was not exactly true. I was indeed tired, but now having come to sit next to Sasuke, I did not feel as tired as before.

"Sasuke said he was a bit tired as well, you two should rest while we are up here. As the adults had planned." Itachi chuckled and looked at his pale little brother.

"I am not tired onii-san!" Sasuke grumbled to him, but did not fool us because as soon as he said those words, he yawned quietly. Which made everyone in our buggy laugh; I honestly had not realized that they were listening. So nosey!

"Sure you aren't ototo that yawn just proved that you weren't." Itachi said through his laugh, which made Sasuke blush slightly.

"Itachi!" Sasuke hissed, which only made him laugh harder and hug him lightly.

"Okay okay, I will stop teasing you… for now." Itachi told him and added the last part in a whisper, I am sure Sasuke heard him, but Sasuke just smirked and turned back to me.

"So Naruto, do you have anything else, besides tutoring, planned this week?" Sasuke asked me, I had to fight against my sleepiness to answer him.

"Uh, I am not sure, though my weekend is finally free this time!" I told him and woke up a bit at remembering that I was given time off this weekend, due to the fact that I was doing so well with my other lessons.

"Really? You should ask aunt Kushina to bring you to my place." He suggested my mother was not really his aunt; it is just that our mothers have been the best of friends since they were our age. So, since we are best friends also, we call each other's mothers our aunts.

"Sounds good, it will be better than just running around my house doing nothing." I agreed with him and then yawned.

"You are really tired aren't you?" He asked me.

"I am just a little sleepy, really." I told him honestly.

"You can go to sleep if you want to…" He said before a yawn cut him off, "I am actually pretty sleepy to." He continued and smirked at me. As usual, my breath hitched in my throat. He could not have possibly noticed, but his smirk got at little bigger at my silent reaction.

I simply shook my head and leaned into him to go to sleep; he leaned back into me slightly and put his head on mine. Though, I am pretty sure, right before I fell asleep, I heard my mother and aunt Mikoto _'Aww'_ once again, I heard my father and Gaara's uncle laugh quietly. As I slept on Sasuke's shoulder I could faintly my mother and aunt Mikoto discuss the next possible events to take us to after this ride. I thought I heard something about a circus, but I sleepily hoped that I heard wrong, I was not really afraid of clowns, but they seriously gave me the creeps.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>I'll end this chapter here peoples! The flashback continues for a couple more chapters and something dark looms on the horizon for two of our littler princes {gulps} but of course you already know they wont die, as you've already seen them mentioned earlier in the story! {exhales} But, enought blabbing! Until next time my fellow readers and dont forget to please, _**please**_ **REVIEW**.

**Please note**: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae© are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

**P.s. **You control when the next chapter is posted with your reviews! Also, I have put up a poll for my next story on my page, so please check it out and cast your vote! As for now you have your new, with-held late, chapter! Enjoys!

**P.s.s. **Like last time, I would like to recieve at least **5** more review before i put up the next chapter, So it has been said, So it shall be! So just mash that **REVIEW** button! Dont make yourself or others suffer!

- Anna Uzumaki


	5. Flashback: Summer Festival Pt2

**AN: **Here it is people! The fifth chapter, wow the big 5 already? It seems like just yesterday i was contemplating on posting this story up here and now we're already this far! And of course I only have you, my readers, to thank! So many of you wished for the story to continue and so i have granted your wishes! {I'm so giving} But one more thing must be said before i stop my babbling and that one thing. . . will be said at the end of the story in my **AN. **So, without further ado! Here is your drugs, use wisely!

**TMR:** Ahhh! Thank you's go out to those who kindly took a mintue of your time to post a review! I love you! And to my readers in general, I also love you SO MUCH!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Deidara, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama, slight child abuse & possible rape.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter 5**

**Flashback: Summer Festival- Part II**

N.P.O.V.

As I leaned on Sasuke, I felt really peaceful, I hadn't slipped all the way into unconsciousness but I felt more and more tired the longer I stayed like that. Weird, because usually when I was this close to him, I always felt the opposite of tired. I wonder why this contact feels different. I tried to think about how this could possibly be different from any other time, but then I felt the buggy suddenly come to a halt and next thing I knew Itachi was shaking us gently to wake us up. When had I fallen asleep?

"Sasuke, Naruto wake up, the ride is over." He said to us just above a whisper.

I sat up-right and yawned widely, but quietly, with my hand over my mouth. I guess I really did fall asleep, _'Oh well, it could not be helped.' _I thought to myself.

"Have mother and aunt Kushina decided on what we will be doing next onii-san?" Sasuke mumbled sleepily to his brother.

"I think so, though I can't be sure, I wasn't really paying too close attention to them." Itachi admitted and actually looked as though he was embarrassed.

"I hope it is something entertaining, unlike that play." I said and shivered at the memory. While I said that I stepped off the buggy, only to slip off the last step, but thankfully my father caught me just in time, before I fell to the stone pathway.

"Naruto! Are you alright? You must watch where you're going son." My father chided me, though I know he said it with love.

"Yes father and I am fine." I told him, feeling slightly embarrassed at almost falling and Kiba did not make me feel any better.

"Very graceful Naruto!" He said through a laugh, only to be swatted on the back of his head by his mother, which made me laugh and stick my tongue out at him.

"Kiba! You ought to know better than to laugh at others!" Lady Tsume said to him, then picked up Akamaru and placed him atop of her own personal dog, though to say her dog was a _dog _was a huge understatement. Her dog looked like he might have belonged in the werewolf category, the dog was _huge!_

"Mother!" Kiba protested, as she bent over to pick him up and place him on the same wolf like dog.

"No complaining," She scolded him, "So, where to next Kushina?" She continued and turned to my mother with a smile.

"Well, how about the circus? The showing is to begin soon and by the time it ends, we will have just enough time to make it over to the fireworks showing." My mother told her and everyone else, who nodded their heads in agreement. I knew it, the circus, I sighed heavily to myself.

"I think that is a splendid suggestion, the longer I can stay off my feet the better." Hinata and Neji's mother, Hisae, laughed while holding her huge stomach.

"I know how you feel." My mother and all the other women said at the same time, and then laughed loudly at the simultaneous answer. As we began to walk towards the tent where the circus was being held, the women of the group continued to talk, while the men walked behind carrying on their own conversations and we children were right in the middle of it all.

"So will this be your last one Hisae?" Shika's mother, Lady Yoshino, asked.

"Yes indeed, I believe three children is just enough for me." Lady Hisae laughed.

"Have you chosen any name's yet?" Shino's mother, Lady Kaho, asked.

"Well, if it is a girl, I have chosen to name her Hanabi and if it is a boy, Hiashi…." Lady Hisae turned to husband for the name.

"I have chosen the name, Hiro." Hiashi-sama announced with a small smile.

"Those are both very lovely names! Minato's father actually chose Naruto's name for us, though I could not agree more with him that it was a wonderful name." My mother practically gushed and turned to look at me, showing a face splitting grin. I could not help but to smile back at her.

"Is that so, Minato?" An unfamiliar voice said. What was it with people calling out to a royal in such a way today? I just hope they know this person as well.

When we all turned to where the voice came from, my eyes fell onto a pale boy with black hair and a weird smile, and he stood next to an older man with a cane and a patch over his right eye. I have never seen them before and from some of the looks in our group, neither have they or so it seemed, they all actually looked a little irritated.

"Shimura-san, Sai-chan, should I say this is a coincidence that we meet tonight?" My father said. It seemed like he was not all too happy to have run into this man tonight. Weird.

"I should think so," The older man named Shimura-san said with a coy smile, then looked down at me, "So, this is your son?" he asked, I do not know why, but this man creped me out, so I stepped behind my mothers' dress to slightly hide myself from him.

"Yes it is, Danzo-san." My mother said and placed her hand on my head, "This is our son Naruto, Naruto, this is Shimura Danzo and his son Sai." My mother continued and introduced me to the man and his son, who still had that weird smile on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young Master Uzumaki." Sai said to me and bowed.

"I-it is nice to meet you as well." I stuttered quietly.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet young sir, though I must say, it's a shame that this is the first time I am to meet with you." Shimura-san said to me, and at that I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled.

"Yes it is, though as it happens, Naruto has just begun his tutoring sessions and he has been very busy. We are to discuss his schedule more, once we return home that is." My father informed him, I have never heard my father sound so unpleased. Who was this man…? And why was his weirdly smiling son _still_ staring at me.

"Ah is that so? Well, I must ask that when you visit Konoha again, to bring the young sir, Minato," Shimura-san said, "And Karura, this must be your youngest, correct?" He continued and looked from me to Gaara.

"Yes Danzo-san, Sai-chan this is Akurei and I's youngest son, Gaara." Lady Karura said, not even bothering to properly introduce Gaara to him or his son.

"A pleasure young Suna." Sai said and bowed to him to.

"For me as well, sir." Gaara all but whispered from beside his mother.

"Such articulate young boys' you all have here, though I do not see the other young heirs here?" Shimura-san questioned looking around.

"No, we have split up into groups, as to see more of the events tonight." Fugaku-sama answered his question.

"Is that so," Shimura-san said while looking at Sasuke, "Well, where might I ask are you all headed now?" He continued and looked at Lady Hisae with anticipation.

"We are taking the children to the circus tent." Lady Hisae told him, while looking a little uncomfortable. I guessed it was due the fact that her stomach was weighing her down, Hiashi-sama must've noticed her expression because he quickly spoke up.

"Yes, the last showing is scheduled to begin in a few moments. You will have to excuse us, as my wife needs to rest." He told Shimura-san and placed his hand on the small of her back.

"Yes, yes, of course," He agreed and turned to Yashamaru-san, "Yashamaru, if you don't mind, would you take my son along with you?" He continued.

"Of course, Danzo-san." Yashamaru agreed.

"Good Well, if you'll all excuse me. I will see you later at the fireworks event," Shimura-san said, "Oh and Hisae, congratulations. I'm looking forward to the birth of your next child." He continued and then turned to leave before anyone said anything. Though I doubt they would have said something even if he had stayed, except for Hiashi-sama, who looked after the cane wielding man with the deadliest glare I have ever seen. What was that all about?

I stood there looking at his retreating back for a few seconds before turning to Shimura-san's son, who was now looking at both Gaara and I, then walked over to Yashamaru-san. While the rest of the group turned to continue walking to the circus tent, I wanted to ask who that man was, but I refrained from doing so because his son was walking within earshot and I didn't know whether or not my parents would've said anything with him so close. So I decided to just ask them later.

When we _finally _reached the tent, we were ushered inside to a private section meant only for royals and higher-ups, I sat down next to Gaara and Sasuke came to sit on the other side of me, while the adults, Itachi and Sai sat behind us. Neji sat on the other vacant side of Gaara and Hinata sat beside him with Shino next to her. And on the other side of Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru had taken their seats just before the lights inside the tent were dimmed.

As the show began, I leaned over to Sasuke to question him about that man and his weird son. I could not wait to ask my parents.

"Hey, Sasuke, who was that Shimura-san?" I whispered to him.

"I'm not sure I have only just recently met him, Itachi told me he works for Sarutobi-sama though." Sasuke whispered back to me. Of course I knew who Sarutobi-sama, he was the King of Konoha and the one who host these summer events. I met him last year when I first came here, he is really nice and his son is one of my new instructors as well.

"Really, then why did the adults seem irritated by him?" I whispered back.

"I overheard my parents talking once and they said that he did not seem trust worthy, that his decisions for things seem too harsh? Like I said, I am not sure, but I am not too fond of him either. Especially with the way he was staring at you back there." Sasuke whispered and then frowned at the last part.

"Yes, what was with that?" Neji interjected, I looked over to see him and Gaara looking at Sasuke and me.

"I know for certain that my parents do not like him." Gaara whispered.

"Neither do ours." Neji followed, speaking for him and Hinata.

"Really? why?" I asked them, I figured some of the adults did not, but now I might actually be getting somewhere as to why.

"Well, Kankuro and Temari told me that, before I was born, he had come to talk to our parents about something. I am sure they did not tell me everything but, from what they did say, I think it was about different birthing methods." Gaara whispered to us, Kiba and Shika were now leaning in closer to hear as well.

"The same happened with my parents as well, he came to our castle shortly after my mother announced her pregnancy. Needless to say my father was very angry and my mother started crying really bad." Neji added his encounter with the strange man.

"You guys to, huh?" Kiba asked, "Hana told me something like that a few months ago." He continued.

"Yeah, Itachi also mentioned something like that to me." Sasuke whispered.

"Naruto, I would not be at all surprised if he went to your parents as well." Shika stated, looking more awake than he had all day.

"What? Are you guys serious?" I asked them, I honestly could not believe what I was hearing. This was starting to sound like a horror show. I really would just have to ask my parents for myself.

They all just shrugged their shoulders and turned back to the show, which I didn't care to watch, so I turned around absentmindedly to see that Neji and Hinata's parents had their heads close together, it looked as though they were talking, but something seemed off, it looked like their mother was shivering. Then it hit me, she was crying. I looked at Neji and Hinata just then, and they were looking at each other in almost a silent conversation, Hinata then nodded her head and leaned into Shino. I decided to just let it go for now and turned to look at the show, not really hearing or seeing anything.

As the show neared the end I thought I heard whispering behind me, but when I turned around I saw Sai and Yashamaru-san turned their heads forward rather quickly. I frowned knowing they had just been looking over here and talking about something, I then felt someone poke my leg and looked beside me to see Gaara looking at me from the corner of his eye and nod. So they were talking about me and possibly Gaara too, I did not like this, I just wanted to go home now and the sooner the better. What seemed like forever, but could have been a few moments, the show ended and everyone applauded, when our parents got up, they looked a little less irritated and motioned for us to leave.

When we got outside our parents held our hands, like they had before and lead us to the main arena where the fireworks were to be viewed. I turned around once again to see that Sai was pretty far behind us, still talking to Yashamaru-san, so I decided to ask my parents what had been eating at me since I saw Shimura-san.

"Mother, Father, is there something wrong with Shimura-san?" I asked in a somewhat low voice, one that only they could hear.

"No, sweetie, why do you ask?" Mother answered me, after quickly glancing at father. Though, I might have just imagined that I had seen that.

"Well, it just that Neji and the others were telling me some things about him during the circus." I admitted shyly.

This glance that they shared now, I know I did not imagine. They actually looked at each other _then_ turned around to the other adults before looking down at me.

"Such as?" Mother asked me.

"They were saying that Shimura-san had been asking their parents about certain things." I told her, I hoped I was getting somewhere having asked them about it, but I could tell I was not when my father spoke.

"It is nothing you need to worry about son that is something for us adults to take care of." Father said to me, but gave me a warm smile none the less.

I tried to hide my pout, but I don't think I succeeded very well because my father kneeled down in front of me and mussed up my hair, which in turn caused my crown to slide down over one of my eyes. I could not help but to laugh as he put it back into place and put his forehead to mine.

"Naruto, you have nothing to worry about, understand?" He told me and then cocked his head to the side at his question.

"Yes father." I smiled at him, I did not fail to notice that everyone, including those in our group, were staring at us and smiling. I blushed once I saw Sasuke smirking at me, but I managed to give him a slight glare which made him give me a full blown grin and laugh. My eyes widened slightly before I controlled them and stuck my tongue out at him, then turned around to continue walking with my parents to the arena.

When we arrived at the arena, the other group was already in our private section with the King of Konoha, Sarutobi-sama. Once we sat down, I realized that Shimura-san wasn't there yet, _'I wonder if he still plans on coming.' _I thought to myself. The arena was almost full with people from all over and the sun had completely set, the stars were shining brightly, it was so pretty. As I sat there looking up at the sky, Gaara, who had sat beside me, tapped me on my arm.

"Naruto, here." He handed me a cup which had some kind of juice in it and right now, the last thing I wanted was something to drink, I had to use the restroom really bad!

"Actually, Gaara, I have to use the restroom." I told him and smiled, he nodded his head in agreement.

"Ah, so do I." He smiled shyly and turned to his mother, "Mother, Naruto and I have to use the restroom, can you take us?" He continued and asked her.

"Sure sweetie." She smiled at him.

"Oh, Karura, you need not get up, I will escort them to the restrooms. _I_ am a guy after all." Yashamaru-san said then laughed.

"I suppose you are right," She laughed with him, "Go ahead but _hurry_ _back_, the fireworks are going to start any moment now." She continued and motioned for us to leave.

"Lord Minato, Lady Kushina I am going to escort Naruto and Gaara to the restrooms." Yashamaru-san told my parents, when we came to where they were seated just a couple of seats away from Gaara's mother.

"Oh? Alright then." Mother nodded.

"Very well." Father nodded and waved for our leave.

As we walked to the bathroom I wondered idly where Shimura-san was at, he did say he was coming and where had Sai gone? He was with Yashamaru-san up until the arena, so maybe he and his father sat in a different section. I looked over to Gaara to see that he was staring at me; I had no doubts that he was thinking the same thing as me.

"Uncle, where did Sai go?" Gaara asked what I had definitely been thinking.

"He is with his father, they went to introduce themselves to a fellow business partner." Yashamaru told us. I had not expected that answer, maybe I was getting paranoid for no reason after all.

"Oh." Gaara mumbled, as we turned to enter the bathroom I saw that there was no one in there, considering that their where hundreds of people here, though the show was going to start at any moment, so maybe they're all in their seats. Gaara and I hastily made our way to the stalls, Yashamaru-san stood by the door with an oddly blank face. I didn't pay much attention to it but Gaara did, as we washed our hands he leaned over to me.

"My uncle has been acting weird today." He whispered so low that only I could hear him.

"Really, Like how?" I asked him in an equally low voice.

"Well, for one, he was talking to Sai and looking at us the whole time at the circus and two, he hasn't asked me about myself since he's gotten here. Usually when he is around me he cannot stop asking questions." Gaara whispered so quickly, that I am surprised that I caught it all.

"I knew he and sai were staring at me during the circus." I told him, he nodded and then looked over my shoulder with a puzzled look. I turned to see his uncle talking to someone with a mask on that had just come in, we then turned off the water and walked over to him and the man with the mask on, just when we came within a few feet of them we could hear the person in the mask speak.

"Are these the children?" the masked person, who I could now tell was a man, asked Yashamaru-san.

"Yes… I'm so sorry Gaara, Naruto." he said.

"Uncle, what is-" Gaara started to say, before his uncle and the masked man grabbed us and covered our mouths. I was so scared and shocked, I did not understand what was happening, I tried to turn and look at Gaara but something covered my eyes. I struggled to get loose, but I quickly realized that my hands had been tied in front of me, which caused my cufflink to break off and clink to the marbled floor. I silently prayed that someone would see us like this and summon the guards, but I knew that wish might not come true once I felt the warm summer breeze on my face. I don't know how, but we were already outside and I wanted desperately to look and see if Gaara was alright, until his uncle spoke.

"Gaara, Naruto I am truly sorry for doing this, but I must." He said, and then I was air born for a brief moment before being sat down on something soft and dry, like hay. Then I felt a weight settle beside me, before it fell into me with a grunt, Gaara? It had to be, because it was not very heavy and it was warm. The next thing I felt was something light being tossed over my head and then shortly after I felt a jerk which caused me to fall over, I hastily grabbed at the objects that covered my eyes and mouth, with a little struggling I was finally able to successfully remove them.

"Gaara?" I practically mouthed, too scared to talk, when I saw him lying beside me, not moving.

"Mm-mn." He grunted and I sighed quietly, and then hurriedly removed his blindfold and scarf in his mouth.

"Gaara, what's going on?" I asked him in a very hushed whisper.

"I don't know, I'm scared, why is he doing this? I don't understand." Gaara said as he started to panic worse than I was, I hugged him to keep him quiet and felt something wet soak through my sleeve. He was crying and at that point I lost it, I thought of the worst case scenario, not being able to see my parents ever again or my friends…. Or Sasuke. I was not able to hold my tears back and cried into Gaara, who now had his tied arms clutched to my chest as he cried.

As we continued to cry quietly, I could hear the gravel under the buggy we were in stop, but only to be replaced with a softer sound, like riding over grass, _'I wonder where were they are taking us?' _I thought to myself. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I was sure my parents must have realized my absence by now. Suddenly I felt the buggy come to a halt and whispered hastily to Gaara.

"Put your gag and blindfold back on." I quickly told him, I didn't want to think of what they might do if they had seen that we had undone the blindfolds. As soon as I had put the restraints back on, I felt someone pull back the sheet that had been placed over or heads, in an attempt to hide us.

"I think its safe enough to undo the blindfolds now, Yashamaru." The masked man said.

"I suppose." Yashamaru-san said in a somewhat bored tone.

When he took, rather when he snatched, the blindfold off of me, my crown few off with it and rolled to the ground. I cried out in pain, only to have it muffled by the gag in my mouth, I automatically looked over at Gaara as the masked man tore his blindfold off as well and, like mine, his crown fell to the ground. The masked man went to pick them up, but paused once Yashamaru-san told him not to.

"Leave them Madara, they are just crowns." He called to the man.

"That may be, but if someone were to see them here they could possibly find these twerps," The masked man, named Madara said, then proceeded to pick our crowns' up and place them in a bag, "And we do _not_ want that happening so soon, I do not know about you, but I for one do not wish to jeopardize my royal standing any further." He continued, his voice, now that I could hear more than a few words being spoken by him, sounded oddly familiar. Though, in my current state, I was too scared to place a name or face with his voice. Wait, did he just say that he was a royal? And that name, I know that name, but from where?

"With what I am doing, do you _honestly_ think I care about my royalties anymore?" Yashamaru-san questioned the man.

"Hey, you never can tell what a person is thinking and, after all, who is more capable of _killing_ a royal, than a royal?" Madara laughed.

"Quiet Madara! You talk too much. You're going to scare my nephew and Namikaze's kid." Yashamaru-san said, referring to my father by his surname.

"Ah, yes, Minato's brat, it has been a while since I've last seen him." Madara said with familiarity, then grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head back to look at me. It hurt so much! I am fairly certain that he pulled some of my hair out, and as I cried silently he looked me over.

"Hmm, well, I'll be dammed, he looks even more like Namikaze now," Madara said and threw me out of the buggy to the ground, I turned to see him yank Gaara the same way he did me, "And your nephew looks just like his _bastard _father Akurei." He continued and then threw Gaara down beside me.

"Careful! It may not seem like it, but he's my nephew and I _love_ him. So be careful." Yashamaru-san yelled at the man, but made no move toward Gaara. I looked at Gaara as new tears began to fill his eyes, I was still crying from fear and having my hair yanked out, though I'm sure Gaara was crying for so many more reasons. This was his uncle, someone who he thought he could trust and here he was talking about killing us…. Wait, _killing_ us! I hadn't even registered what he had said before, but now that I had, I was hysterical.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>I'll end this chapter here peoples! As I said last time, the flashback continues for a couple more chapters! So just hold on, cause from here on out this will be a seriously bumpy ride! {Clears throat} Also as I mentioned in the first **AN **I have something important to tell you all, and I hope you can bear it for just a little while, {Clasps hands together} but next weeks post may be postponed, due to the fact that i am moving! {Covers head from flying objects}, I know,I know! I could post it at an earlier time, like now, but I will not do so without the required reviews! So, with that being said, I will see you all next time! Mwah! I love you! {Runs away from the knife weilding mob}

**Please note**: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae© are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

**P.s. **You control when the next chapter is posted with your reviews! Also, I have put up a poll for my next story on my page, so please check it out and cast your vote! I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, Ja ne!

**P.s.s. **Like last time, I would like to recieve at least **5** more review before i put up the next chapter, So it has been said, So it shall be! So just mash that **REVIEW** button! Dont make yourself or others suffer!

- Anna Uzumaki


	6. Flashback: Summer Festival Pt3

**AN: **Hello people of Fanfiction! I'M BACK! I am submitting this chapter by my pool and believe me when i saw it is SO hot and humid out here! My goodness! But off of that, I'm so glad that I can finally post this new chapter after, what? two weeks? Well, too long anyways, I've finally finished unpacking so i now have plenty of time to get you all your druggies on time! So, enough with the blabbering, on with the new chapter! And please dont hate me for this one! {Runs back inside to the air conditioning}

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Six**

**Flashback: Summer Festival- Part III**

"_Nnnn-mph!" _I tried to scream, which only rewarded me with a hard swift kick to my side followed by a stomach turning snap. I've never had any broken bones, but in that moment I was sure I now had a broken rib.

"Shut the hell up twerp!" Madara yelled after he kicked me.

"Let's get going _before_ you kill them ahead of schedule." Yashamaru-san told him and then shook his head. He grabbed a bag from off the buggy and headed down a narrow path, that lead deeper into the forest. I could then hear the fireworks start, I sat there still staring at Gaara and he was still staring at me, _'I wonder if that's how scared I look.' _I thought to myself and as if he could read my mind, he nodded. At that simple nod, I couldn't help but to cry even harder.

"Ah, looks like the show has begun," Madara said, "They had to have realized that their brats are gone by now, don't you think?" He continued.

"Probably, but the boss said he'd delay them…. We should still hurry, come on." Yashamaru said, forget the honorifics now, I have no more respect for this man.

The man named Madara then roughly pulled Gaara and me to our feet, and practically dragged us down the uneven path, the man walked too fast for us to keep up, so we tripped and fell often. He must have been frustrated with our falling because he soon tossed us over his shoulders' and my broken rib throbbed in protest to the movement, I tried to fight him off while I was on his shoulders but he instead let me and Gaara drop to the ground, then backhanded me when I tried to stand up.

"Shit, Yashamaru this brat is putting up too much of a fight. Shouldn't I just knock the little fucker out?" Madara seethed at him, while glaring at me.

"No! Must you be so rough? Lest you forget we need them _conscious_ for this, just… put up with him a little while longer and if we have enough time, I'll let you have a little _fun_ with him." Yashamaru told him, I don't know what fun meant to him, but I'm sure it would result in me being hurt even more. _'Please, someone hurry and save us!' _I silently pleaded.

"Now _that's_ more like it, if that's the case, I'll put up with the little twerp. What about your nephew?" Madara asked excitedly and turned to Gaara, who never took his eyes off of me.

"…..I'll think about it." He said without even turning around, "Now hurry up, we're almost there." He continued.

Madara only nodded and yanked us back onto our feet and continued taking us down the path until we reached a bit of a clearing, the moon was full and shining, effectively lighting up the area. I could faintly still hear the fireworks going on as we walked across a small bridge and stopped, the bastard Madara then threw us to the ground again and I couldn't help but to let out another muffled cry as I landed on my undoubtedly broken rib. I was in so much pain, that I felt as if I might pass out but I did _not_ want to leave Gaara awake by himself, he had been quiet the whole time and I was thankful because I didn't want him to get punished like I was for acting out. However, his tears never once stopped flowing down his horrified face.

"Alright, you can take the gags out of their mouths'." Yashamaru instructed.

Madara complied and roughly pulled the gags out of our mouths'. I wanted to scream immediately but decided against that reaction, I didn't want to risk having another broken bone. However, that wasn't the case with Gaara he quickly and frantically began talking.

"Uncle! Why- what are you doing to us!" Gaara cried.

"Gaara…. I have to do this, I just need you to be a good boy and do as we say." Yashamaru told him, his voice void of all emotion.

"But uncle-" Gaara began to say but was backhanded by Madara, which most likely caused him to bite the inside of his mouth, because bright red blood spilled out the side.

"You brats need to learn how to shut the hell up!" Madara yelled. I couldn't help my reaction at what he did to Gaara.

"_Stop!"_ I yelled and staggered up and swiftly hit him between his legs, which brought him to his knees with a curse.

"_Shit! _You fucking brat!" He yelled at and punched me in my stomach, which knocked the air right out of me. I fell to the ground gasping and gripping my stomach, he hit me right near my broken rib, I cried loudly and hardly registered that Gaara crawled over me in a protective crouch.

"Stop it! Stop hitting him you _monster!" _Gaara yelled at him, I've known Gaara basically my whole life and I've _never_ heard him sound or look this angry, he was usually so quiet.

"Oh, so you think I'm a _monster_ 'eh?" Madara said as he slowly straightened back up, "Before the night is over, you two will see what real _monsters_ are!" He continued yelling at us.

"Madara, silence. Now bring them over here." Yashamaru instructed him.

Madara did as he said with a grunt and sat us up against two hard rocks, but now that I looked around, I could tell we were on temple grounds and the two rocks we leaning against were actually two fox statues. I faintly remember seeing them somewhere before, but I cannot remember where, my just didn't seem to want to remember _anything_ tonight. As I turned to look back at Yashamaru, he was lighting various sized candles' and had two long needles beside him, along with some kind of red and black liquid. Was that ink?

"Now Gaara, Naruto, I'm going to explain some thing's to you, listen carefully. Have you two ever heard of the yellow fox spirit Keaton and the red fox spirit Akai no Kitsune?" Yashamaru asked us, did he really expect us to answer? And when we didn't he just continued, "Well, tonight we are going to try a little experiment. It will be painful, but not for long, this experiment requires a live sacrifice for each fox spirit." He told us and I automatically felt sick to my stomach, Gaara and I were going to die and for what? Some experiment!

"Why us?" I asked through my pain.

"Because you two are the youngest of the royals, our boss had asked for-" He began to say but cut himself off and shook his head, "This experiment requires young souls." He continued with an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

"Yashamaru, enough babbling, let's get this over with. I want to have fun with Minato's brat before the other royals find us." Madara said and sat down on a stone step.

"Right, now Gaara, you're first. Just remember that I love you very, _very_ much." He said and then grabbed Gaara by his cape, which all royals wore outside of the castle, and placed him in the center of all the candles'.

"_No!_ Leave him alone, don't do this!" I yelled and tried to get up, while keeping my arms awkwardly around my stomach because my hands were still tied, due to that I couldn't catch myself as I fell forward.

"Madara, you can have your _fun_ with him now while I prepare Gaara, just don't hurt him much more, alright?" Yashamaru directed to him.

"Hahah, now _this_ is more like it!" Madara chuckled and came to stand over me, I instinctively flinched away from him when he reached down and picked me up by my collar.

"Now just listen to me brat, do as I say and you won't get any more broken bones." He seethed at me. I turned my face away from him to look at Gaara and saw his uncle holding the needle with the red ink on it to the left side of his forehead.

"Now Gaara, don't be mad at me. If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at Karura, if it hadn't been for her marrying, I'd have been _king!" _Yashamaru yelled at Gaara and stabbed the needle in his forehead. Gaara closed his eyes tightly and let out a blood curdling cry, I turned my head away and cried silently.

"Now open your mouth brat." Madara instructed me, and then proceeded to slap me extremely hard when I just glared at him, "I said open!" He yelled at me and yanked me by my hair again. I opened my mouth in pain, only to have something long, thick and warm shoved in it. I tried to gasp, but that was impossible, so I opened my eyes to see that he had his… dick in my mouth. I reflexively bit down a little and that was the _wrong_ thing to do, because he then fisted my hair harder.

"Don't you dare bite or I'll break your fucking jaw!" He shouted at me, I tried my best to block his voice out, but I could still hear Gaara screaming and…. fireworks. Madara thrust himself into my mouth over and over again, every time he thrust into my mouth I could feel him hit the back of my throat and it made me gag uncontrollably. I cried and he thrust, Gaara screamed and he thrust, the fireworks rumbled and he thrust over and over, this went on for I don't know how long, it seemed like an eternity. Madara suddenly started to thrust even harder and faster into my mouth and down my throat, the pain that followed was unexplainable with each thrust he made.

"Fuck! I wish we didn't have to sacrifice you brat, otherwise I'd keep you all to myself and fuck your skillful little mouth _every day_. You're so fucking good with this little mouth!" He groaned and picked up his pace even more, I wanted to throw-up so badly at what he said, but every time he hit the back of my throat the sensation to do so faded. My throat was starting to feel numb and, once again, I honestly thought I'd pass out only this time would be from the lack of air. As he thrust into me one more hard time, I then felt and tasted something thick and salty go down the back of my throat, which I had no choice but to swallow as he held my head firmly in place.

"_Fuuuuck!"_ He shouted, as the thick liquid pulsed down my throat and then threw me to the ground, I gasped for air and heaved but nothing came up. As I coughed and grabbed my throat, which felt like it was on fire, I looked over at Gaara he had blood gushing down his face and was still being tormented by Yashamaru.

"Stop!" I tried to yell, but my throat hurt so bad, all I could manage was a harsh rasp.

"Do not worry Naru-kun he's almost finished with him." Madara said using my name as other close royals only did as kneeled beside me, then lifted his mask to reveal his mouth and licked my face where I was still drooling. This man disgusted me to no end and hearing him use my nickname I just knew I've met him at some point, but my mind was now too scrambled to even attempt at remembering.

"Don't touch me!" I rasped again and smacked his hand away, he still had his mask lifted just above his mouth and smirked at me.

"I wouldn't try to talk if I were you, it's just going to hurt the more you try," He laughed at me, I just glared at him knowing he was right, "Besides… I'm not done with you just yet." He continued and slid his mask back into place.

He then grabbed me by my arm and turned me away from him, only to pin me to the ground and swiftly pulled my pants down to my ankles. My mind must have gone into overdrive at that point, because so many actions were flitting through my head the moment I felt something slide in between my butt. I struggled fruitlessly in an attempt to wriggle away from whatever he was planning to do to me next, but like before, when I struggled he pressed on my broken rib and I stilled my movements, only to scream loudly from the pain.

"Stop! Get off of me, get off!" I shouted, only to have it come out muffled because my face was pressed into the hard ground.

"You never know when to shut up do you Naru-kun? Now, this is gonna hurt… a lot." Madara practically growled at me and just as he said, I then felt like I was being torn in two as he… entered me? I'm not even sure how that was possible. He roughly and quickly thrust into my backside and hissed, for a moment I couldn't see anything but darkness as the pain and shock consumed me, but that soon passed as he withdrew from me, only to quickly thrust back into me. This new pain was far worse than the broken rib, I don't know how I was able to pay any attention to what was happening, but I vaguely felt something running down my inner thigh and as I struggled he ran his hand over the wet place on my thigh and brought his hand to my face. Blood, I was bleeding? And yet, somehow, that didn't seem to sink in. I felt numb as he continued to ram back and forth into me.

"Look at this brat this is your blood, this makes it easier for me to fuck your cute little ass." Madara grunted at me and proceeded to put his bloody fingers in my already sore mouth.

"Mmn-ff!" I gagged as he stuck his fingers down my throat.

"Un, damn little Namikaze! You're such a good fuck!" Madara hissed as he his movements became faster and faster, the entire bottom half of my body felt as though it was on fire and I didn't want to leave Gaara awake by himself but I couldn't take it anymore as I began to pray for unconsciousness to take over my mind. But it never came, instead Madara let out yet another low growl and his movements became forced and jerky, until he paused behind me and I felt the same liquid warmth spill into me. As he panted slightly over me, he pulled himself out of me and the resulting movement burned me even further and left me gasping for air. Had I been holding my breath the whole time? I couldn't breathe and each harsh intake of air burned.

"Now, wasn't that fun brat?" Madara chuckled and yanked my pants back up to my waist.

"Don't touch-" I tried to say before I was consumed by a torrent of coughs. _'Mother, Father…Where are you?'_ I thought as the numbness subsided and the pain came back in full force. As I lay there feeling broken and in so much unbelievable pain, I heard Yashamaru finally speak.

"There, now the _first _pain is over Gaara." Yashamaru smiled and put his hand on Gaara's head. I then uselessly tried to get up and run or crawl over to him, ignoring the pain that soared through my body, but Madara stepped on my cape and I fell backwards.

"Yashamaru, hurry it up! I don't think the boss will be able to stall them forever," He shouted to him, "And I'm done with my toy." He continued sounding smug and I'm fairly certain that under that stupid mask he was smirking at me.

"Right, bring Naruto over here now." He told him.

Madara then dragged me by my cape over to where Gaara was, he then picked him up by his collar and tossed him behind me. I quickly turned to crawl over to Gaara, he was crying quietly and had his hand over the bloody spot on his forehead. I reached over to him, ignoring the pain flowing through me, he then snapped his eyes open and grabbed my chest, it was then that I saw the red tattoo on his forehead it was written in kanji that meant: _'love, how ironic'. _I thought and pulled his head to my chest. As soon as did though, Madara yanked me up and put me in the middle of all the candles'. I was soon face to face with Yashamaru, he now had another needle in his hand except this one had the black ink on it.

"Open his shirt." Yashamaru instructed Madara.

"Hmph." he huffed and took out a knife, then proceeded to cut the top part of my royal garb open down to the bottom. I was too scared and too numb from the pain to even put up a fight, so I just sat there, until Madara slammed me down on my back and held my hands above my head. Yashamaru then pinned my legs' under his and put the needle to my stomach, right near my navel.

"Now Naruto, I know you've been through a _lot_ of pain already, Madara can be quite ruthless at times, but I'll try to do this as quickly as possible." Yashamaru informed me and actually chuckled.

"Uncle _stop!" _Gaara suddenly yelled and ran over to grab his arm that had the needle in it. He looked at Gaara and smiled slightly, then drew his arm back and tossed Gaara across the ground. He slid into one of the fox statues, then curled up and began to cry again.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto, I c-can't help you." He cried.

"It is okay Gaara," I tried to smile through my pain and tears, "Our parents will be here soon." I told him, I fervently hoped I was right. However, I wondered if I would make it, even though it was summer I was beginning to feel very cold and lightheaded, and I felt as though I was sitting in a puddle of water. _'When did I sit in water? It-it can't be blood? No, this is too much wetness for that.'_ I thought and tried tiredly to place the wet feeling on my butt.

"Yeah, they'll be here when it's too late." Madara added and laughed.

Just then, with no warning, I felt a sharp stabbing pain on my stomach. I looked down to see that Yashamaru had begun to tattoo a swirl on my stomach, which ironically, reminded me of my family crest. I screamed and writhed in pain, but I could not move because I was pinned by the two sadistic kidnappers.

"Now, I know this hurts Naruto, it very well should. This is acid based ink, when it comes in contact with human flesh it brings the blood to the surface. That is why Gaara is bleeding so much an ample amount of blood is needed for this ritual to take place. Though, from what Madara did to you, you're already bleeding quite a lot." Yashamaru told me as he ended the swirl, only then to put five more detailed marks around it. This pain was far worse than the broken rib, the sore throat, the pain on my face and lower half. I was really surprised that I had not fainted from all the pain yet, though I could feel that I wasn't far from it as the edges of my vision began to blur.

"There, done," Yashamaru said and stood up to look down at me, "Gaara, come here." He continued and looked at him. He had his hand back to his forehead and just glared at him.

"Come over here or I break _another_ one of this brat's rib." Madara threatened and jabbed me in said broken rib, I cried out in pain and looked at Gaara who hastily got up and ran over to me.

"Good, now we can begin with the ritual." Yashamaru said and smiled.

They then proceeded tied us both to each one of the fox statues and picked up some scrolls, they then positioned themselves in front of us. Madara stood in front of me and Yashamaru stood in front of Gaara.

"Now, we will begin the most _painful_ part of the ritual. What will happen is that we will summon the fox spirits into you two. Gaara, I will summon the yellow fox into you and Naruto, Madara will summon the red fox into you. Then once your eyes turn the color of the foxes, oh, Naruto you will also show the _whiskers_ of the red fox on your face, that red fox is a real demon," Yashamaru told us and then laughed, "As I was saying, once your eyes turn the color of the foxes, we will end the ritual with your sacrifice." He continued and smiled.

This was it, we were going to die. No one had come to save us, I felt so many emotions inside me and I honestly couldn't decide on which one I felt the most. Maybe sorrow, I'd never be able to see Sasuke again or my parents and friends. I looked over to Gaara and the blood on his face, he look at me and gave me the saddest smile I have ever seen, I tried to return it, but it felt mangled. I'm sure his felt the same way to…. and then it began, so much indescribable pain soared throughout my body, Gaara and I both screamed loudly as they began chanting.

My whole body felt as if it had erupted into flames, searing pain, that's all I could comprehend. I was completely submerged into an abyss of pure agony and I was all too positive that Gaara was feeling the same crippling pain. After what seemed like an eternity of torture, I heard Madara speak.

"They're eyes' are beginning to turn." He said. As soon as he uttered those words my eyes literally felt as if they were on fire as well. I screamed even louder, and then heard Gaara cry louder as well. Just then, I felt as if something cut me across both of my cheeks, this pain was horrible it was like salt in an open wound, that had been soaked in acid and lit on fire. It was indescribable. So much pain, when would it stop?

"The whiskers are there now, be ready to sacrifice on my signal Madara." Yashamaru said. It was then, somehow through the searing pain, that I realized who Madara was and where I knew him from. Uchiha Madara, he was Sasuke's uncle. I met him for the first time just last year, when I was introduced to him he smiled sadistically at me, which immediately crept me out. Why would he and Yashamaru do this? And who was this _'Boss'_ they occasionally brought up? However, these thoughts were soon pushed to the back recess of my mind as the pain grew to even higher levels, how that was even possible I did not know.

I could then feel something warm running down my face, I had been crying non-stop this whole time, but this liquid that flowed now I knew was not my tears. It was more blood. The burning I had felt on my cheeks really had cut me, I turned my head to look at Gaara for what was most likely the last time, I saw that he was staring at me with shock and pain in his eyes', which were horrifying, they had turned yellow in the middle and black around his irises. I'm sure I had the same expression as he did, as I stared at him I finally felt myself slipping away from reality and closed my eyes'. I still heard the fireworks, and then…. Barking? And people yelling Gaara and my names.

"Shit! _Now_ Yashamaru!" Madara cursed. "But just in case…" He continued. I then felt something cover my ear and heard Madara's voice, "If you somehow survive this Naru-kun, you will not remember my presence of being here." He whispered and licked my ear before uttering a quick chant, and with that I only remember Yashamaru and…. Someone else, who was it?

"I know…. I'm truly sorry Naruto, and I Love you Gaara." Yashamaru said to someone.

I Then heard a growl, followed by a swear and then a gun shot. Before I lost consciousness, I thought I heard my parents screaming my name again.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Soo? Do you hate me now or still love me? Harsh I know, but I warned you all! {Didnt I?} Well, since it is SO freaming HOT out here {and its already 9pm} I am going to run back to the safety of my house and begin setting up the next chapter! And next time I will have it up on time, exspecially since summer school is over for my college! BANZAI! So, intil next time! Ja ne, And as always, **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	7. Flashback: Summer Festival Pt4 Daddy

**AN: **Hello people of Fanfiction! Ahh! I know I know! I posted on my page a few days ago that I was gonna post this chapter then, but my laptop died on me right when I was setting it up in the DoX, soooo, Sorry! {Ducks from flying objects!} Hey hey! Killing me wont do you any good! Just remember that! But now you have your new chapter so be happy! Now enjoy!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Seven**

**Flashback: Summer Festival- Part IV- Daddy**

M.P.O.V.

'_I still don't trust that Danzo, he isn't even here yet, and where did that son of his disappear to?' _I thought this as I sat beside Kushina and Fugaku. I looked down at my son, who was sitting between Sasuke and Gaara, and even from behind I could see that he was still upset about what the other children told him.

"Minato, maybe we should tell him a little about Danzo?" Kushina asked and pulled me from my thoughts.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure about that, do you think it is truly necessary?" I replied.

"Well, the other children seemed to have told him something and right now he looks as though he is tearing himself up about it." She pointed out, I must admit she had a point, but I was still unsure.

"I know." Was my only reply, I honestly didn't know what else to say, so I just settled for placing my hand on Kushina's and simply stared at her, she was truly a beautiful woman, with fiery red hair and dazzling violet eyes. I turned back to look back at Naruto just as he was being handed a drink from the Suna boy, I then remembered that his uncle had been specifically asked to watch Sai-chan. Now he was nowhere to be seen, just then Yashamaru stepped in front of me with Naruto and Gaara behind him. I completely failed to notice them get up, due to my wandering thoughts.

"Lord Minato, Lady Kushina I am going to escort Naruto and Gaara to the restrooms." He informed me and my wife.

"Oh, alright then." Kushina nodded.

"Very well." I nodded as well, and waved him off.

"Why is he the one taking them to the restrooms?" Fugaku asked from beside me.

"Honey, Karura cannot very well take the boys into the _men's_ room." Mikoto laughed at his answer, which left my long time friend nothing else to do but to sulk. Well, an Uchiha's version of sulking. That family was truly rooted in showing little to no emotion.

"I do not think there is anything particularly wrong with Yashamaru taking them." Kushina said. I knew that if she did have a problem with him, she would've told him so. She is such a tomboy; I was very surprised, however, that she did not have an outburst at all today.

"I suppose, though I have to ask, why do you think Danzo asked him specifically to watch his son?" Mikoto asked.

"Well, my guess is because he knows that we all have a disliking of him. However, I've heard that Yashamaru has done business with him before, so that might factor into it." I told her.

"Hmph, that weasel." Fugaku mumbled, and I just couldn't stop myself from grinning at his remark.

"Hisae was very distraught by him tonight, to think that he would even mention her unborn child!" Tsume joined the conversation from the other side of Kushina, with that wolf of a dog at her feet. It seriously was _beyond_ huge, in fact if you asked me that _'dog'_ isn't even a dog, more like a wolf or beast from some of the villagers' scary stories.

"I completely agree I honestly still have my doubts about that man. I wonder if Sarutobi has any speculations about him as well." Kushina asked, more to herself and once again tearing me from my thoughts.

As she spoke about Sarutobi, my eyes drifted to where he was sitting, he sat there talking to one of his guards. Of course we had guards as well, but I'd ordered them not to wear their uniforms and to instead wear street clothes. If anyone thought that we would actually leave the castles' without guards, they truly would be lacking some brain cells. Though, as I sat thinking about _too_ many things I heard someone complaining about food, and I immediately knew who it was that said it.

"I swear, these vendors need to set up in the upper arena as well, I'm still hungry!" Choza grumbled to his wife, his families' appetite was insatiable.

"Choza, calm down. We can eat after the show." His wife, Chiharu comforted him. That reminded me of an idea that I had, as surprise for Naruto.

"Kushina, what do you say about asking Teuchi to let his daughter come work at the castle?" I turned to her, surprisingly she wasn't talking her head off, she must be thinking about something more important.

"Hmm, Ayame, why?" She blinked at me.

"For Naruto, you know how much he loves their ramen. I think it would make him very happy if he was able to eat it every day, instead of only having it whenever we come to Konoha." I informed her.

"Ah! That's a wonderful idea, youknowwhatimean!" She exclaimed jumbling her words once again, I swear some of the things that come out of her mouth, are sometimes incomprehensible.

"Hahah, well, now that that's decided, when we arrive back home I'll send him a written request." I chuckled.

"Do you think he'll let her though? She is his only child after all." She said.

"I believe he will want what is best for her, Kushina." I told her.

"I suppose, though I do hope he agrees. Naruto would be so happy." She smiled and looked to where our son was once sitting. He's still gone?

"Shouldn't the boys and that Yashamaru be back by now?" Fugaku shared my thoughts as if I had spoken them aloud.

"There _are_ a lot of people here. I wouldn't be too surprised if there was a line…." Tsume began to say before she trailed off, honestly, she knew better than to actually think that a royal would be made to wait in line for anything. People would gladly let them go ahead of them without batting an eye.

"I will go look for them, the show should be starting any moment as well." I said as I stood up, but as soon as I did, I heard an unwanted voice.

"Ah, Minato, that will not be necessary. I just ran into Yashamaru and the boys on my way up, he was getting them some snacks from one of the vendors' on the lower level." Danzo informed us, "Don't get so wound up, Yashamaru can take care of them." He continued. At that remark all I wanted to do was knock him flat on his back, he must have forgotten that I am a royal, a King for crying out loud! Though I was not one to just throw my title around to get my way, some situations like this called for me to do so.

"Danzo, lest you forget who you are talking to, you will not place such an accusation towards me." I stood there glaring at him slightly to show I was serious.

"Of course not Lord Minato, I was just informing you that your sons' are quite alright and that there is no need to fret." Danzo covered himself and bowed to me.

"See that it does not happen again, Shimura." Fugaku threatened him, he was always very strict and with Danzo he did not care to beat around the bush.

"Yes Lord Fugaku," He bowed to him and then turned back to me, "Yashamaru should be back with the boys shortly." He continued at me, before walking over to where Sarutobi-sama sat.

I sat back down very upset, _'I do not think I can take much more of him.'_ I thought to myself. If Yashamaru is not back soon, I will go find him and in my current state, I will not be too kind about it. Kushina then put her hand on mine, _once again_ pulling me from my thoughts, maybe I'm doing too much thinking today, I looked over to see her emerald eyes harden with anger.

"Minato, do you honestly believe what he says' to be true?" She questioned me.

"Honestly… No, I do not. Even if what he said is to be true, they still would have been back by now." I sighed to her.

"That Danzo is truly an idiot, and now that I think about it, where did his son run off to?" Tsume questioned and briefly looked around.

"That is a good question, I saw him up until we entered the arena. Maybe he is with some friends?" Mikoto inquired.

"Ha, I doubt it." Fugaku grunted. I had to agree with him to an extent on that subject. Though I am sure he should have at least a _few_ friends, even I could tell that smile he had on his face was not sincere, having a father like Danzo, I do not blame him for faking.

It was already completely dark when we first entered the arena and now the festival workers were turning off the lights, which signaled that the show was going to start very soon. I looked to the seat where my son was, or rather where he should have been. He still was not back yet, now I'm worried, I had wanted to get up and go look for him, but Danzo kept turning to look at me…. Wait, what am I saying? I was behaving like I had to sneak around him, I am a royal for crying out loud!

"Minato, Kushina?" Karura kneeled slightly beside us, I jerked slightly, due to the fact that I was too carried away with my thoughts again to notice that she had walked over to us.

"Yes?" Kushina answered in a hushed voice.

"I'm a little worried, Yashamaru has not come back with the boys yet. Do you know where they might be?" She asked looking at both of us.

"Danzo informed us earlier that he passed the boys' on the way up and that Yashamaru took them to get some snacks from a vendor on the lower level. Though, that _was_ quite a while ago." Kushina told her, and then looked puzzled by what she had said.

"What? But, the boy's already have _plenty_ of snacks at their seats." Karura mentioned. Now, at this point I was ready to bolt from my seat and search for my son, though I knew I couldn't because that would cause the festival goers to panic as well. As I thought this, I did not miss the looks that came across the faces of those parents closest to us.

"What?" I, including Kushina, Mikoto, Fugaku and Tsume questioned at the same time.

"I knew that brother of yours could not be trusted, Karura." Akurei said. He had come to stand beside his wife while my mind went to work.

"Akurei, I am sure there is a simple exclamation to this." Karura said to her husband.

"That's it, Kushina come we are going to look for them." I stood once again and held my hand out for her, as I did I turned my head just in time to see Danzo leering at us. He knew something was wrong, and as soon as I found Naruto and Gaara the better.

"Of course, we will be back as quickly as possible." She said to the others. As we hastily walked towards the upper exit of the arena, that led us to the lower level, one of my undercover guards approached us.

"Lord Minato, is everything alright?" He asked.

"I'm not entirely sure at this point, just follow us 'A'." I instructed him.

"Yes my lord." 'A' said. He was one of my many personal guards. He had chocolate colored skin and short pale blonde hair which contrasted greatly with his skin. He was beyond the term 'well built', he trained during any free time he had and the results showed significantly.

When we reached the lower level, we quickly headed to the bathrooms. As we rounded the corner just down the hall from our destination, we quickly stopped once we saw a group of festival workers surrounding the bathroom. My stomach hit the floor in that moment, _'This is just one of many bathrooms here, what are the odds that they went to that one?' _I thought to myself.

"Minato…." Kushina whispered to me.

"I am sure it is nothing, love." I assured her. In my six years of being king I knew that keeping calm was key when one was under pressure, as we walked over to investigate, one of the workers saw us approaching.

"Ah, Lord Namikaze, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. But this bathroom is currently out of order." The middle-aged worker bowed to me and my wife.

"May I ask why?" I said to him.

"Yes, well you see, it seems as if someone has locked the bathroom from the inside. There's an alternate exit inside, but that only leads to under the arena and out the back." He informed me.

"An alternate exit? Well I should think it would be easier to open the door if someone were to come in from said exit and unlocked it." Kushina speculated.

"Yes Lady Uzumaki, we have thought of that and someone is currently making their way through the basement." He assured her.

Just as he told us this we saw the bathroom door open, I calmly made my way over to the crowd. One of the workers was mumbling something to the others, who looked a bit aggravated at what he said. Once I stepped to them I asked if there was another problem.

"Is there another problem gentlemen?" I asked, very grateful that I was able to hide my anxiety.

"Oh, Lord Namikaze, it's nothing too serious. I was just informing them that the basement exit door had been broken open." The worker told me.

"Broken open? May I ask… did anyone perhaps see our son enter this bathroom earlier?" Kushina asked and squeezed my hand.

"Actually, I did see the young sir, along with the young Master Suna and Yashamaru-san was escorting them." A slightly familiar voice said from behind us, I turned to see, once again, that fake smile. I didn't know whether or not to be angry with this young man at the current moment, I did _not_ want to falsely accuse him of anything.

"Sai-chan, where have you been?" I asked and raised one of my eyebrows at him.

"Well, when I got to the arena, my father pulled me aside and said that he wanted me to meet one of his associates. However, once I met them, father instructed that I stay there for a while. Is everything alright?" Sai asked.

"Yes, were just looking for them, as the show is about to begin. You say you saw them right, did they enter this bathroom?" I asked him and silently hoped that he did not, because that would just rise more questions as to why the door was locked.

"I believe they did, however, I don't recall seeing them come out." He said and at that moment Kushina released my hand, and swiftly walked into the men's room.

"Lady Uzumaki!" All the workers exclaimed as she pushed past them into the bathroom, I don't blame them.

"Kushina, wait." I called and followed after her.

As I walked into the bathroom my guard followed close behind me, Kushina was almost in hysterics as she frantically looked and spun around the bathroom, her close fitting light green silk gown swirling around her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she looked towards the sinks, I followed her gaze and my heart lurched painfully. I quickly walked over to the sinks and bent down to reach the small piece of gold under one of the them. It was a cufflink with my family insignia, it was Naruto's, and I had given it to him on his fifth birthday. I turned to see the workers looking at us with puzzled expressions', Sai look at me with his head cocked slightly to the side.

"Sai, what were you and Yashamaru discussing today?" I glared at him. I was dangerously close to losing it.

"Yashamaru-san was telling me about his family, Prince Gaara in particular, but when he talked about him, I noticed that he looked sad." Sai told me, his face displaying no sign of emotion what-so-ever.

"Did he discuss anything else?" Kushina said angrily and sounded as if she were on the brink of crying, I looked over at her and saw a slight fevered blush on her face. She was strong, but if anything ever happened to our son, that strength would falter and turn into something nasty.

"No, he just talked about the Suna family and his business with my father." Sai said quickly. When he mentioned his father, I was enraged and quickly turned to my guard and whispered to him.

"'A', gather the other royal guards and report to behind the arena at the basement door.

"Yes my Lord." He bowed and quickly made his way out.

"Lord Namikaze, is everything alright?" One of the workers asked, as I lead Kushina by the hand out of the restroom. Sai followed behind us, which I was actually grateful for, I had a request for him.

"Yes, my wife is just having a bad night." I told them and continued down the hall, not even bothering to state my leave. Few people were still in the halls as we headed toward the stairs that lead up to the royal section, and as we reached the stairs we heard the first set of fireworks rumble in the air, I turned to see Sai still behind us.

"Sai, I must ask that you do me a favor." I told him.

"Yes, Lord Minato, what is it?" He asked.

"I ask that you gather the adult royals to come to the back of the arena, with the children as well, and meet me by the basement door. I must also ask that you do not inform you father on what I have asked you." I calmly told him.

"Yes, Lord Minato." He nodded and turned to head up the stairs.

"Minato, I want my son." Kushina practically growled as tears filled her eyes, I put my hand on her cheek and pulled her in for a kiss.

"I know love, I _will_ find him." I promised her, then grabbed her hand and walked towards the back exit of the arena.

As we walked out of the back of the arena, we headed towards, what I assumed, was the direction of the arena basement door. I was glad, when we came around the round wall of the arena, to see my guards already waiting for us to arrive. I just hope Sai hurries up with the others.

"Lord Minato, is everything well?" 'A' asked me as I came to a stop in front of him, I looked over at Kushina to see that she had her strong face back on, _'Do not worry Kushina.' _I thought and looked back towards him.

"I am not sure, I will inform you all on the matter at hand once the other royals arrive." I told him. Though, thankfully, I did not have to wait long.

"Kushina! What's going on?" Karura said in a strained voice and ran over to her. My wife only shook her head and I knew then that her voice would fail her, were she to speak.

"Minato?" Akurei said towards me.

"We have a problem…." I informed them on the current events that had transpired during Kushina and my leave to look for the boys.

"What is the meaning of this!" Fugaku shouted and turned on Sai, who took a step back.

"Fugaku, the boy had no idea of what has happened here." I said.

"So, where is Naruto?" The youngest Uchiha, Sasuke, asked me. I did not want the children to be caught up in this.

"That is what we are going to find out, Sasuke," I said calmly to him, "Shikaku, I must ask that you, along with the others and a few guards, take the children back to the tent. However, Tsume, Fugaku, Akurei and Karura I ask that you all remain here with Kushina and I." I instructed to them.

"I understand." Shikaku nodded, and then he and the other adults and guards directed the children back to the tent, all of the children had very worried and confused looks upon their faces. I could only imagine, briefly, the look on my son and Gaara's faces, before I quickly banished that thought, I would not dwell on the negatives right now. The most important thing was to find them. Just then another set of fireworks rumbled as I began to speak.

"Alright now, we have to act quickly and I am not jumping to any conclusions, but the sooner we find our boys' the better. Tsume, is your dog trained in tracking?" I said and turned towards her with my question.

"Yes, of course Minato. Do you have something with one of the boys' sent on it?" She asked, I nodded and handed her Naruto's cufflink. I heard a harsh intake of air and looked to Kushina, who looked completely irate. Once again, I don't blame her, I felt the same way.

"Minato how did you…?" Tsume trailed off in a question as I put the item in her hand.

"It was in the restroom." Kushina spoke up.

"Yashamaru, how could he…." Karura asked mainly to herself.

"This is ridiculous, that two faced brother of yours is gone with our sons' and that shifty Danzo is M.I.A. as well!" Akurei exclaimed.

"Danzo was not with Sarutobi-sama?" I asked in disbelief at what he'd just said.

"He was gone when I went to retrieve the other royals. I have no idea where he might've gone though." Sai answered me.

"He left shortly after you two did." Karura said quietly.

"Tsk," I clicked, "'A', find us some horses immediately." I continued and turned to order him.

"Right away." He said and bowed his leave before running around the side of the building. Not much time passed before he was back with the horses as another round of fireworks crackled in the air.

"Tsume, has your dog caught Naruto's scent yet?" Kushina asked. Her voice was slightly covered in anger. She was obviously trying and having trouble with keeping her composure.

"Yes, we are ready when you are Kushina, Minato." She informed us.

"Good, let us hurry." I said and walked to the horses, I mounted the horse that Kushina and I were to ride before she did, and then grabbed her hand as one of the guards helped her to get on behind me. The same was done for Karura and Tsume once Akurei and Fugaku mounted their horses. Once the guards were on their horses, Tsume whistled a command to her dog and it took off into the direction of the forest. We wasted no time as we set the horses into a quick gallop down a narrow trail, I could still heard the remaining rounds of fireworks rumbling and crackling through the night air.

It seemed as though we were on the narrow trail for a while, I began to think that a false trail was laid, until the beast of a dog cut quickly off the path into the thicker part of the forest. This new trail was not suitable for the horses to tread at all, appearing to realize this, Tsume whistled for her dog to turnabout.

"We will have to go on foot from here everyone, the scent leads deeper into the forest." Tsume informed us.

"Understood." I sighed. I was slowly coming undone the longer this went on, _'I just want my son.' _I thought, as the guards helped Kushina and the other women down from the horses. I was silently pleased that all the women, like Kushina, decided to wear closer fitting gowns for the festival, because they were able to move swiftly in them.

"Do you know how much further we have to go?" Karura questioned Tsume as we stepped onto a much narrower path into the thick trees'.

"I am sorry, but I cannot say yet. However, my dog will let us know when we are close." She explained.

"If I get my hands on that Yashamaru, I will _not_ have mercy on him." Akurei seethed and glared ahead of him, while Karura walked closely behind him holding his hand.

"Likewise." Kushina and I spoke at the same time, I looked over at her and my blue eyes met with her violet ones and we spoke to each other without words. She then grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together as the fireworks could still be heard quietly in the distance. As we continued down the path, the wind carried an inky sort of smell, which made the dog whine slightly.

"There is an old temple back this way, if I recall correctly." Fugaku said after a while.

"In the _forest?"_ Karura asked in somewhat disbelief.

"Yes, it is a temple dedicated to the two fox spirits Kiroi no Kitsune and Akai no Kitsune, otherwise known as Keaton and Kyuubi. However, the temple is currently abandoned now and has been for the past few years." He informed us, and as soon as he said that everyone picked up their pace slightly.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Okay! How was that? Its Daddy and Mommy to the rescue! Along with a few of their friends, will they get their in time before the ritual is complete, regaurdless if you know that they dont die, things like this have some serious after effects, as you will learn later on- Wait! I dont wanna give away too much info! So, intil next time! Ja ne, And as always, **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	8. Flashback: Summer Festival Pt5 Darkness

**AN: **Hello people of Fanfiction! Yes, I have decided to once again go against my standings for the number of reviews and just decided to post them up on the normal times, I really want to get this story over with so I can post up the two new ones I've written. Yay for the new stories! So, now you have your new chapter so be happy! Now enjoy!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s) in later chapters, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Eight**

**Flashback: Summer Festival- Part V- Darkness**

M.P.O.V.

As we got further down the path, I thought I heard something in the wind, though I was not sure. The dog however, did hear something and began to bark wildly, then took off full speed ahead of us. We all automatically ran after the hound.

"He has found them!" Tsume shouted from in front of us. We all at that time heard the unmistakable small cries of pain from more than one person; we came upon a bridge and quickly crossed it.

"_NARUTO!"_ Kushina cried and bolted past me.

"_GAARA!"_ Karura cried as well and took off after Kushina.

"NARUTO! _Kushina_ wait!" I called out to them both and easily caught up to Kushina and Karura. My guards were right behind me, pistols ready. As we got closer we heard voices.

"Shit! _Now_ Yashamaru!" Someone cursed.

"I know…. I'm truly sorry Naruto, and I Love you Gaara." Yashamaru said. I easily recognized his voice.

Once we crossed the bridge my façade fell away completely, as my eyes landed on my son and Gaara. Narutos' eyes were closed in unconsciousness, and his face and stomach were covered in blood. Gaara too had blood pouring from a spot just above his left eye. I saw Yashamaru and a masked man quickly put knifes' to the boys' throats, however Tsumes' dog agilely leaped over a circle of candle's and bit down on the masked mans arm.

"Fuck!" He cursed.

Then I heard a pistol fire from beside me and Yashamaru was hit in the shoulder, the bastard didn't even cry out in pain, instead the two just took off into the woods. A few of the guards and the dog took off after them.

"_NARUTO!"_ Kushina screamed from beside me, where I was frozen in shock.

"No… _GAARA!"_ Karura cried and ran towards her son.

"Oh no…" Tsume breathed.

"Minato, snap _out_ of it!" Fugaku yelled at me, which cause me to successfully thaw out.

"That Yashamaru!" Akurei growled and ran after his wife, I followed right behind him to Naruto and Kushina, When we reached them 'A' and another guard carefully cut the boys' down.

"Naruto! Naruto sweetie, wake up, its mommy." Kushina cried with Naruto in her lap, I kneeled beside her, and tears fell from my eyes. My calm demeanor had completely vanished, as I saw that he was absolutely covered in blood!

"Naruto, son, please… _wake up_." I sobbed at my son, who was still bleeding profusely. I then noticed the fiery red glowing marking on his stomach and shallow cuts on his cheeks, I automatically felt sick.

"Gaara! Akurei, he is not waking up!" Karura cried, while holding her son close to her.

"Karura, give him time, he has to wake up." Akurei said in a low voice.

"Minato-sama, Akurei-sama, we must move the young sirs' away from this place quickly." One of my medical guards, named Shizune, instructed us.

"Why? What is wrong _now?"_ I asked rather harshly.

"My Lord, this is a sacrificial ground. The boys were most likely meant to be used as a sacrifice to the two fox spirits, and being that they were so close to actually succeeding in summoning the spirit's, the boys' are still at a huge risk staying here. That is why they are not waking up. If we don't move _quickly_ I fear they may never wake up, Sir." Shizune quickly explained to me and the others.

My mind went _completely_ blank at her exclamation, I felt as though my feet had been knocked from underneath me, had I not already been kneeling beside my sobbing wife and unconscious son, I would have surely fell to the ground. My son never waking up, that was preposterous and unacceptable.

"Kushina, give me Naruto," I told her and put one hand on her shoulder and the other I put on Naruto's head, "We should do as Shizune says for now." I continued.

She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to let go of him, then finally placed him in my arms gently, as I took him from her I noticed that her gown was now covered in our sons' blood. The sight sent a faint trickle of rage down my spine. As I stood up I could see Karura begin to stand with Gaara in her arms, until Akurei put his hand on her shoulder.

"Karura do not be foolish, let me carry the boy." He said to her. She simply nodded and loosened her hold on the unconscious child, and Akurei picked him up.

"Quickly my Lords', this way." One of Fugakus' medical guards, named Kabuto, instructed us and hurriedly retreated back across the bridge, as we crossed the bridge I could still faintly hear Tsumes' dog barking…. along with the fireworks. Once we got quite a ways away from the temple, Shizune turned around to us and motioned for the remaining guards to keep watch.

"Tsume, will your dog be fine without you to command him?" Karura spoke softly, obviously strained from the chaos.

"Yes, he will not kill them but he will _immobilize_ them." Tsume informed her.

"He very well should kill them!" Akurei spat.

"No, death would just be an easy way out for them. I want them to _live_ and _suffer_ for this traitorous act." Kushina almost hissed.

"I could not have said it better myself." I second her, all the while never taking my eyes off of my son.

"Okay my Lords', please place the boys down here." Shizune instructed us.

We did as she said and placed the boys' down on the soft grass, I looked towards Shizune as she gathered her medical instruments. As she started her examination of Naruto, Kabuto examined Gaara. I briefly glanced down at my royal attire and saw that there was much more blood on me than there should have been from Naruto's wounds, but I was quickly brought back to the current situation, as everyone sharply inhaled as Shizune and Kabuto opened the boys' eyes to examine them, I felt numb and sick as I followed their gazes, until I stared at my sons lifeless eyes' which were a _piercing_ red, instead of my azure. Kushina leaned into me and I had to will myself to stay upright as well, I looked over to Gaara and his eyes' were just as shocking, they were black with yellow irises.

"What is wrong with his eyes'?" Kushina exclaimed in nearly a whisper. I could tell her nerves were frayed and exposed.

"I believe it is a side-effect of the ritual, my Lady." Kabuto informed her.

"How could Yashamaru do this, I just do not understand." Karura sobbed quietly into Akurei's chest.

"Do not fret Karura, he _will_ pay for what he has done." Akurei comforted his wife.

"Their eyes' should not remain this way for long," Shizune said as she moved to examine his chest and pushed lightly, "The young master has a broken rib, Kabuto, I need a chest brace." She continued.

"What?" Kushina and I asked in blatant disbelief, my son was bleeding _and_ broken. I could feel the rage inside me building and twisting in to something hideous, I turned to Kushina and her anger was just as clear to see on her face.

"He must have received a massive blow to his mid-section. He was most likely kicked or stepped on." Shizune explained to us as she fixed the brace to his small chest.

"What about Gaara? Does he have any injuries?" Karura spoke quickly too Kabuto.

"He has some swelling inside his mouth, he bit down on the inside of his cheek pretty hard my Lady. It looks as though he might have been struck across his face, also there is this…" Kabuto informed her and then wiped the blood from his forehead to reveal a red marking, "Someone has tattooed his forehead." He continued.

"Love?" Karura questioned, "Why love?" She continued.

"It must have been for the ritual, which proves as much because it is in kanji." Kabuto explained to her and us.

"Young master Naruto also has a marking on his abdomen, it is no definite saying, I assume it is a seal." Shizune informed us. Once she finished with the brace she went back to clear some of the blood off of his face before she paused and opened his tiny mouth, her eye's then showed pure shock and disbelief. She then almost hastily did another quick overview of him, until she finally stopped at his waist and tilted him slightly so the side, at this her eyes became even wider, she then almost hesitantly looked up to Kushina and I.

"What is it?" I anxiously asked her, I felt Kushina take hold of my hand then, possibly bracing herself for the answer. _'Please…'_ I tried to think of something more to say, but my mind was already to chaotic as it were.

"M-my Lord, he has tearing around the corners of his mouth a-and…" She stuttered to a pause and looked quickly at all of us, I noticed her breathing picked up and she was slightly shaking. _'This cannot be good.' _I thought to myself.

"And?" Kushina prompted her to continue in a whisper.

"I-I see evidence of seminal fluids, bruising and swelling in his mouth, a-as well as…." Shizune paused to inhale deeply before continuing, "He- he's bleeding rather heavily from his backside, and, well, it-it appears as though h-he's been s-sodomized from the amount of blood loss… my Lords." Shizune informed us and quickly dropped her gaze.

Silence thickly filled the air around us, which held the shock and disbelief of her observation. It was a loud silence, my head throbbed and my hand felt numb from Kushina holding on too tightly. I did not want to, but I had to ask, it seemed like that was the only question that I could decipher in my chaotic mind… my mind, just didn't seem to want to process anything she just said, her words just buzzed angrily around in my head, stinging in random places over and over during the time it took me to open my mouth and voice my question.

"What do you mean?" I asked in a voice that sounded dead even to me, and as I stared at her, waiting for her to reply, I could see that she obviously couldn't explain any further.

"What she means my Lord is… that someone must have forced the young sir to perform a sexual act, hence the tearing and bruising at the back of his throat and continued to… have anal intercourse with him. I am sorry to have to explain such an act to you my Lord." Kabuto answered, the look in his eyes clearly displaying apologies, uncomfortableness and sorrow.

"A-are you sure _that_ is the cause?" Karura asked quietly.

"Yes Milady." Shizune nodded, though she answered in a voice that was just barely above a whisper.

"Minato…." Kushina called my attention, I had just barely even registered her voice, and as I turned to her I saw the tears pouring, unabashed, down her face. Kushina was definitely at her limit. I put my arm around her, pulled her to my chest and held her tightly, I absolutely couldn't, and didn't want to, focus on what was happening, and my mind had completely shut down at such blasphemous information. As I held her, I heard several people approaching and heard 'A' speak.

"You are to _immediately_ remove those two from the area Tenui, understand?" 'A' spoke to one of my guards.

"Understood, sir." Tenui answered.

However, before I could even register the movement, Kushina had pushed away from me quickly and ran towards the two captive kidnappers. Though in that same moment I was also on my feet as well, only I was _not_ running to catch my wife, I was running to deliver my _personal_ punishment to the two bastards who dared to do such unthinkable actions to my son. However, 'A' and Tsume quickly grabbed a hold of Kushina just before she reached the two.

"I will kill you Yashamaru, you son of a bitch!" Kushina screamed and thrashed in 'A''s arms, struggling desperately to free herself. I on the other hand swiftly ran past them and dealt a jaw breaking punch to Yashamaru's jaw, I did my punch perfectly because he then spat up blood. But, before I could deal a blow to the masked man, my guards and Fugaku restrained me. As I struggled violently in their arms, my vision was locked onto the masked man, my whole being was being drawn to him in particular and I wanted nothing more to comply with it, I wanted to kill him, to strip the skin right off his bones. And with these thoughts in mind, I was surprised that I was even able to comprehend that someone was trying to calm me down, which was very unlikely to happen right now.

"My Lord please, don't injure yourself over him!" One of my guards, I recognized as Genma, said to me as he held me back.

"Minato, I understand your current rage but you must not quarrel with him at the present moment." Fugaku implored upon me, I didn't fail to notice how he looked at the masked man with a furrowed brow as if he was trying to figure out what face was hidden underneath. Just then, as I finally somewhat calmed my movements, Akurei ran past us and dealt another hard blow to Yashamaru's nose and a perfect roundhouse kick to the side of the other mans' face, which would have knocked him to the ground had not a guard been holding him in place. Oh how I wish _I_ would be given the chance to do as he had just done!

"If I _ever_ see you again, you pathetic excuse for a royal, I _will_ kill you myself." Akurei said in a deadly tone towards Yashamaru.

"You will pay for what you have done _brother." _Karura seethed at him. She was still on the ground by her son.

"I will see to it personally that you two are slowly burned and torn to shreds, you son of a bitches." I said in a deathly calm voice, which surprised me because, on the inside, I was boiling over with rage.

Just then Karura, Shizune and Kabuto gasped, but I did not take my eyes' off of the two bastards to turn around at their quick intake of air. Only did I turn around when I heard two small groans, and Kushina broke free from Tsume and 'A' to run back behind me. I then turned to what was possibly the best sight I have seen since all this started… Naruto and Gaara groaned again and shifted slightly, Akurei and I then quickly ran back towards our waking boys'.

**N.P.O.V.**

I guess I finally passed out or was I dead? I really hoped not I wasn't ready to die. I was only five years old for crying aloud! Though, as I was now, I no longer felt any pain and for that I was glad, I have never experienced any pain close to what I had just been through. _'Wait, where is Gaara?' _I thought. I did not want to leave him alone he and Sasuke were like my brothers… Sasuke, I wonder if I will ever see him again. Why hadn't _anyone_ come to save us, did they not realize we were missing yet?

As I sat in the darkness I had a feeling that I was not alone, but as I looked around me I saw nothing. I then slightly remembered hearing someone call Gaara and my name and someone whispering in my ear before I lost consciousness. I could not have imagined that, could I? Just then I felt something brush past me in the darkness, I quickly scrambled to my feet and looked around me but _still_ saw nothing but darkness. _'I know I just felt something.'_ I thought. Then I felt something grab on to my arm tightly, I gasped and quickly spun around and somehow saw Gaara standing behind me.

"Gaara?" I asked blinking at him.

"Naruto, are we dead?" He asked.

"I-I don't know, how long have you been here?" I asked him, _I_ had been her for…. Well, far too long, for my liking.

"I just got here, wherever this is, and saw you." He told me.

"Gaara, did you happen to hear our parents calling our names before we came here?" I asked him.

"I thought I did but… but the pain was the only thing I could focus on." He admitted and looked very sad. Though all I could do at that answer was sigh, sat _back_ down and pat the black space next to me for him to sit down too. As we sat there in silence, we leaned against each other and waited for something, _anything_, to happen. But there was nothing, nothing until I felt the same thing from earlier brush past my hand and as I jerked away from whatever it was I noticed that Gaara jerked to.

"Gaara, did you just feel something as well?" I asked him.

"Yes, it kind of felt soft, like fur." He told me.

As soon as he said that we saw something red and yellow far off in the darkness, I could not make out what they were from where we stood, but it they did not feel very welcoming, not at all. I quickly looked at Gaara and saw that his forehead had begun to bleed again, but he was also looking at me, only with wide eyes' that focused towards my stomach. As I looked down I saw blood quickly spilling from my stomach, slightly soaking my torn garbs and in between my legs.

"_Ahhhhh!"_ Gaara screamed loudly and it echoed off the darkness. I snapped my head back up at him and he was grabbing his forehead, where the blood was now pouring down to his face.

"Gaara what's- _Ahhhhh!"_ I began to ask him but I was taken aback by a searing pain in my stomach, face and backside, my legs buckled and then completely gave out. As I fell to the ground in a heap of unbelievable pain, I began to hear voices' penetrate the darkness.

"_Minato-sama, Akurei-sama, we must move the young sirs' away from this place quickly."_ Someone said my father and Gaara's father's names'. I _desperately_ wanted to call out to him but I was in _too_ much pain.

"Naruto," Gaara cried to me, "What is going on?" He whimpered.

"I don't know…" I gasped at him and suddenly noticed the two red and yellow objects begin to move quickly towards us, I then heard a pair of fierce snarls bounce around the darkness. I tried to keep my eyes' open and stare at the two colors. However, the pain was too much. I quickly gave into to the pain and closed them but not before I was able to make out the red and yellow _foxes_ speeding at us.

"_Kushina, give me Naruto."_ I heard my fathers' voice speak to my mother. Many voices started to come and go in the darkness, they were all but drowned out by Gaara and my screams of pain.

"_Karura do not be foolish, let me carry the boy."_ We heard Gaara's fathers' voice pass through the darkness, I wanted to open my eyes' to see if our parents' were actually in the darkness with us, but I was too afraid that I would see the foxes even closer to us.

"_Quickly my Lords', this way."_ Another strange, but slightly familiar, voice passed through.

I dared to open my eyes' and saw the foxes still quite a ways from us, but they seemed to have stopped running. As I noticed that, I also noticed that the pain was subsiding and I found myself no longer needing to cry out from the pain, though it was still there, just not as strong as before. I looked over to Gaara and he was still holding his head, while curled into himself like me.

"Gaara, are you okay?" I asked hoarsely at him, my throat had begun to hurt again with the pain in my stomach, butt and my broken rib, which was dully throbbing.

"I'm not sure, but my head still hurts, as well as my mouth." He replied.

"I know, all my pain came back as well… I-I heard our parents', Gaara." I told him.

"I did to." He said.

As we both lay there, we continued to cry slightly from the pain that had not gone away. I kept wondering how long we might have been in that place and I often glanced over to where I saw the two foxes, but they were completely gone now, which I was thankful for. I was soon tired of being here, I just wanted to go home and see my parents', friends' and Sasuke… I wonder if he is worried about me. Then very suddenly, I heard an all too familiar voice flow through this void.

"_What is wrong with his eyes'?"_ I heard my mother cry out._ 'Is she talking about us?' _I wondered.

"_How could Yashamaru do this, I just do not understand."_ Gaara's mothers' voice seeped in after a while.

"Mommy…" Gaara whimpered.

It was quiet after that, I wanted to her my mother and fathers' voices again, they made me feel safe but at the same time made me feel sad. I was still not sure whether we were dead or not, though I had a feeling that we weren't because if we _were_, we could not be in this much pain. Some time passed before I heard the voices' again.

"_I will kill you Yashamaru, you son of a bitch!"_ My mothers' voice screamed through the darkness. I have never heard her use such language, she must be really mad, she mentioned Yashamaru so I am none too surprised. It was only then that I realized our parents had found us, but maybe it was too late because we were still surrounded by darkness.

"Gaara, I think our parents' found us." I rasped at him.

"I hope, I just want to go home Naruto." He whispered to me.

"I know." I told him.

It became quiet once again, except for Gaara and my pained breathing. I started to feel something just then, I felt _lighter_, as though I might be waking up and as I thought this, I heard another familiar voice, but it sounded off, it sounded cold and threatening.

"_I will see to it personally that you two are slowly burned and torn to shreds, you son of a bitches."_ My fathers' voice threaten in a deadly voice, his language was just as harsh as my mothers. As I slowly opened my eyes' in the darkness and pushed myself to my feet, still holding my bloodied stomach as I reached for Gaara, who had his eyes' closed.

"Gaara it is time to find a way out of here, if we don't do something we might stay here forever." I informed him.

"Right, Naruto." He opened his eyes and nodded. As he got up, the darkness seemed to open up and we felt a warm breeze blow through, the darkness then got lighter and lighter. I turned to look at Gaara with a hopeful expression, but he was gone and as I quickly spun around in search of him, I heard someone sharply in hale, followed by a slight scuffling. Once again, all I could do was sigh into the disappearing darkness, which was not a good idea considering I had a broken rib, I groaned for the sharp pain and dropped to the floor only to have said floor vanish as I fell into consciousness.

"Unnn..." I groaned and writhed slightly in pain.

"Mother, Father." I heard Gaara cry.

"Oh, Gaara! You-you're…." Lady Karura sobbed.

"Naruto!" My mother cried and gently pulled me onto her lap, I then opened my eyes' to see her tear filled face that showed nothing but happiness and relief.

"Naruto, son…" My Father said and kneeled beside mother, his face was slightly wet, _'Was he crying?'_ I thought.

"M-mommy, D-daddy." I rasped a cry. My throat was now hurting even more than before.

"Hahah, I'm glad to see that you still can't barely speak _brat_, I told you not to." I heard someone say from a distance, I automatically froze in fear. I remember hearing that voice from before, but the harder I tried to remember who it belonged to, the more my head began to throb.

"Get them out of here!" I recognized my fathers' guard 'A' command someone, I could not see who since my head was in my mothers' lap and they blocked my view of the people I was sure were behind them. I felt my mother shift from under me and I looked up to see her glaring harshly at someone behind her, my father then placed his hand on her shoulder, which seemingly calmed her back down as she turn back to focus on me.

"Gaara, just remember, I still love you." I heard Yashamaru speak. I turned my head slightly and finally saw Gaara who was now sitting up in his mothers' lap, the blood on his face was almost completely wiped away and he had gauze wrapped around his head, successfully covering the red tattoo. He looked down at his hand with tears in his eyes' and then looked over to me with a sad face. I tried to sit up in that moment to view my surroundings, but was struck by a sudden variety of sharp pains, mainly in my side and lower back.

"_Oww..."_ I whined from something pressing against my stomach.

"Young Master, you should refrain from unplanned movements at the moment." Shizune said. I now realized it was her voice that passed through the darkness and prompted my father to move Gaara and me.

"But it _hurts_." I whimpered in pain, tears started to fill my eyes'.

"It is okay sweetie! We will take care of you. Everything will be alright." My mother soothed me and ran her hand through my hair.

"My lord, we should get the young sir's back to the main village, they still require further medical attention, especially young Master Naruto." A silver haired man with round glasses instructed. I vaguely remember him from Sasukes' castle. I believe his name was Kabuto. _'Sasuke, I wonder where he is.'_ I thought, then looked around and Saw his father and Kibas' mother all had slightly furious expressions at what Kabuto had said.

"Where is Sasuke?" I rasped and whimpered at the pain.

"He and the other children are currently at the royal tent." Fugaku-sama told me with a kind slightly forced smile on his face, I looked at Kiba's mother and she had the same smile. Actually, as I looked around I could see that everyone had the same relieved smiles on their faces. Yashamaru and the other man now no longer anywhere to be seen.

"Son, you need not strain yourself to speak or move right now." My father told me and rose to his feet, it was then that I realized that he was covered in blood, "Let us get them back to the village now and quickly." My father announced, pulling me from my observation, and then reached down to carefully pick me up and cradle me.

"You are safe now, Naruto." My mother said and kissed my hair.

"Naruto…" Gaara called to me, I looked over to see his father holding him, slightly blood splattered, and then he smiled at me. I smiled back sincerely, but winced slightly from the pain in my cheeks, I raised my hand to rub at them and felt that I to had gauze on them.

"Naruto…." Another all _too_ familiar voice called to me. It shocked me because I knew _this_ voice did not belong here, "Naruto, wake up." Sasuke called to me again. _'Wake up? What is he talking about?'_ I thought.

"S-Sasuke?" I rasped into my fathers' chest sleepily, as the previous events washed over me, and drifted back in to an exhausted state of unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Okay! How was that? Daddy and Mommy, Along with a few of their friends, have finally saved their boys! But are their going to be some side-effects from have come do close to dying? Well, I haven't mentioned any yeeeettt, so maybe there will be! So, until next time! Ja ne, And as always, **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! **(but, whether you do or don't, I will put them up anyways... but there still very much appreciated.)

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	9. Findings at Night

**AN: **Hello people of Fanfiction! As promised, I am posting these next chapters w/or/w/o any lovely reviews, I cannot truly remember if I proofed this chapter but none-the-less, you now have it. So, go ahead and enjoy it already minna!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s) in later chapters, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Nine**

**Findings at night**

Naruto woke up with a sudden sharp jerk that sent him into a sitting position in his bed, panting heavily and clutching at his throat.

"Naruto, snap out of it!" Sasuke yelled quietly from beside him again, the panting blonde reflexively jumping away from him in his confusion and fell off the bed to the floor. As he slammed onto the floor he, somehow, but thankfully, missed the steps that lead up to it and was even more dazed as he looked around the dark room. Naruto really started panicking at that point _'No, I am back in that dark place, But how?' _He thought and automatically curled his arms around his stomach.

"Naruto, Naruto! Get a hold of yourself." Sasuke said a bit louder and slid across the bed to crouch on the floor beside an obviously fear gripped blonde, the raven prince then grabbed the shuddering blondes' shoulders and gave him a sharp shake.

"Sasuke, what… What are you doing?" Naruto asked and blinked quickly in an effort to clear his head.

"You were mumbling and groaning in your sleep _dobe_, it woke me up," Sasuke informed him. "Are you okay?" He continued and looked at him with a worried expression.

"I was?" Naruto deepened his frown, "Hmmm… but, yes, I'm alright." he continued and slowly removed his arms from around his stomach, _'I haven't had that nightmare in a while, it was really bad tonight, and I remembered everything this time.'_ He thought and absentmindedly rubbed his permanently scarred cheeks, a constant reminder of that horrible night along with his tattooed stomach.

"Naruto… was it _that_ again?" Sasuke asked as he watched Naruto rub his whisker marred cheeks with a knowing expression. As Sasuke's question pulled the tanned prince from his previous thoughts, he stilled his rubbing and looked up at the pale raven. Of course he knew what was wrong with him because this was not the first time he had reacted quite like this whenever he slept with the Uchiha during a storm.

"Yes," Naruto sighed, "But this time it was worse, I remembered _everything_." He continued. '_But something was missing. Someone else was there, but who was it?'_ He mentally mused, and then grabbed his head which had begun to throb painfully. It hurt every time he tried to remember if someone else was truly there that day, he never told anyone about this pain, with the exception of Gaara, because he did not want them to worry any further than they already were. Not being able to look ogling raven in the face, the blonde prince looked down at the hand that was propping him up off the floor, he did _not_ want Sasuke to see the sadness and on-coming pain, and it would clearly be plain to see, on his face. Just then he registered that the pale prince still had his hands on his still slightly quivering shoulders, he could easily feel the heat from him through my silk pajamas, and that feeling was amazing.

"Naruto…. Come back to bed, it is still night time." Sasuke informed the bothered blonde prince and stood up.

"What time is it?" Naruto asked still sitting on the carpeted floor.

"It is 3:00am, now get up _dobe_." The raven answered and then smirked, that smirk, it always made Naruto feel so happy no matter what he was going through. When he still sat there staring at the smirking prince said prince grabbed the ogling blondes hand and pulled him to his feet, then walked back up the few steps to the high raised bed.

"I am not tired anymore _teme_." Naruto huffed at the raven as they crawled onto the huge bed.

"You _need_ to rest, who knows what time we will be woken up." Sasuke said sternly to stubborn blonde, who smiled slightly at the assertiveness in his voice.

"I'll be just fine, you should just go to sleep, _teme_." The whisker faced prince told him and gave his own little smirk, then turned to get back off of the bed, but just as his feet landed on the first step Sasuke grabbed his wrist.

"_Tsk_, you are being stubborn _dobe_. Now, come back to bed!" The raven instructed and yanked the blonde back onto the bed.

"_Teme, _I said I am not tired anymore!" Naruto hissed as dragged him across the bed.

"Well, I will just have to do something about that, Naruto." Sasuke said and tightened his hold on Naruto's wrist.

"Sasuke…." The blue eyed prince glared at him, he already knew exactly what the onyx eyed boy was planning, he always did this whenever the blonde refused to admit to something and refusing to admit that he was indeed still tired gave him a perfect cause to do this.

"Then go to _sleep_." Sasuke said and glared back into azure eyes.

"Fine, whatever you say _teme_." Naruto sighed and faked a yawn, he thought he might have fooled the raven because just then he loosened his hold on his wrist slightly and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly more.

"Really now, _dobe_…" The raven raised an onyx eyebrow at the blonde and in that moment Naruto knew then that he had not fooled him, he also knew that he had to make his escape and quick.

"No!" The blue eyed prince screeched and turned to hurriedly get away from the plotting raven.

"Get back here _dobe_!" Sasuke yelled and scramble off of the bed to chase after the escaping blonde. This is what always happened when Naruto refused to admit to something, which was shortly followed by Sasuke doing something completely embarrassing to him as well. Surely Itachi was informing his little brother on… _certain_ _things_, which Sasuke, for the past few weeks, had been doing to the young blonde. However, Naruto wasn't necessarily complaining about being subjected to them.

As Naruto ran across his room in an effort to reach the main bedroom door that led to the hallway, he could tell that Sasuke was right behind him and at that, he wondered if he would be successful in opening the door before the raven caught him. That thought, however, was crushed as the blonde crossed the middle of the room and Sasuke pounced, tackling him to the floor. Naruto, however, was mindful of the guards that where roaming the halls and hoped that they were not passing by just then to hear the struggle he put up against Sasuke.

"_Teme_, I am not going back to bed!" Naruto hissed and turned the raven over to pin him to the floor.

"Stop being so stubborn _dobe_ and just admit that you are tired!" Sasuke said in a low whisper. He then somehow got from under the blonde and in turn pinned him to the floor and straddled his hips, _'This is provocative position, but… I kind of like it… Darn you Itachi!'_ Naruto thought as he struggled to get free, only to find that couldn't pry the ravens hands from his wrists which were now pinned above his head, so instead he brought both of his legs up so that his feet were now flat on the floor and then bucked his hips, which successfully sent Sasuke tumbling off of him and onto the floor.

"Ha!" Naruto huffed a laugh at him and used that chance to escape out of the door.

"_Dobe_, you are going to get it!" Sasuke called after the now doomed blonde as he ran out the door and down the hall.

Naruto knew good and well, that running down the halls at this time of the night was not the best idea, but he most certainly did not want to go back to sleep just yet and he was fairly sure that Sasuke knew that. As he ran around a corner at the end of the hall, he quickly looked behind him and blinked when he didn't see Sasuke. He then slowed to a stop _'Where did he go? I know he was right behind me.' _He thought and looked back around the corner to the other hall, only to quickly draw his head back as he saw Genma walking down the hall that Sasuke _should_ have been on, _'Crap, why do I always have to run into him?' _He thought and hastily turned to continue down the hall to the stairs. Once he'd gotten halfway to the stairs he looked behind himself again and saw Genma round the corner to the hall he was still on, and he just knew that he was going to be caught, but just then someone suddenly grabbed him from behind covering his mouth to keep him quiet and pulled him into a room. Once he was in the room, he quickly broke free from their hold and turned to see Sasuke with his finger to his mouth.

"Quiet _dobe_ or he will hear us!" Sasuke hissed and watched as the blonde panted with slightly frantic eyes, _'Damn, I probably shouldn't have grabbed him like that.'_ He though as he remembered how Naruto first explained to him on how he was kidnapped years ago.

"Sasuke, what in the- how did you get in here?" Naruto asked in a breathless voice as he looked at him in utter shock and confusion, '_Oh, it's just Sasuke….'_ He inwardly sighed in relief.

"I obviously entered this room from the other hall _dobe_." Sasuke looked at him with an expression that was clearly meant to question the blondes' mental status.

"I knew that, I was just seeing if you did _teme_!" Naruto said quickly and stupidly if he was being honest with himself.

"That makes no sense Naruto." The raven shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Shut up!'' Naruto hissed at him.

"Naruto, Sasuke?" A familiar voice suddenly whispered to them from the darkness somewhere in the room. As they turned to where the voice came from they spotted Gaara standing in front of the bathroom door across from them. Naruto then realized they were in the room Gaara stayed in whenever he visited his castle.

"Gaara, why are you up?" Naruto asked somewhat stupidly or so he thought.

"I could as you two the same question." Gaara said.

"Gaara, what are you whispering about?" Yet another familiar voice asked. They then looked behind Gaara to see Neji come out of the bathroom behind as well.

"Neji, what are you doing in here?" Sasuke asked and raised an onyx brow.

"I, uh, Gaara asked me to keep him company tonight." Neji told hesitated slightly. The three other princes could've sworn that they saw him blush, but it was too dark to tell.

"Naruto, what are you two doing up and roaming the halls?" Gaara questioned as he turned back toward the two intruding princes.

"_Dobe_ here woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep, then he took off running down the halls." Sasuke told him before Naruto could even open his mouth.

"Is your name _'Naruto'_, I believe not so shut up!" Naruto seethed at Sasuke and proceeded to glare darkly at him.

"Whatever, I was just telling him the truth before you could make up some stupid lie." The raven shrugged and smirked at the miffed blonde and once said blonde saw that stupidly beautiful smirk, his previous rage vanished.

"Do you two ever _not_ argue?" Neji asked hypothetically as he walked across the room to sit in a chair next to the window.

"What was that _Prince Hyuga_, did you say something?" Naruto sarcastically questioned him and cocked his head slightly.

"No, you are just _hearing_ things." Neji said and stifled a chuckle.

"You all are getting too loud for this time of night, Genma-san will be sure to hear you." Gaara cautioned the too loud princes. The grey, blue and onyx eyed princes had in all honesty forgotten all about Genma-san, but they knew Gaara was right about their current noise level.

"_Ugh_, right, I forgot all about him." Naruto admitted.

"Great, with him constantly surveying these halls it will be even harder to sneak back past him." Sasuke grumbled.

"What were you two doing in the halls at this time anyway?" Neji asked, repeating Gaara's earlier question.

"Uh, I woke up and could not get back to sleep, then Sasuke tired to tire me out by… wrestling me, which is when I took off running down the hall." Naruto scratched the back of his head as he confessed.

"Why could you not get back to sleep?" Neji questioned and raised a perfect brunette brow.

The tanned prince then glanced at Sasuke from the corner of his eye and saw that said raven was looking at him with the same worried expression as earlier. The blonde then looked over to Gaara, who had gone to sit by the window as well when he and Sasuke were bickering, who had a slightly unsettled expression covering his features. Naruto then immediately understood that he and Gaara were awake for the same reason. He shook his head slightly and turned back to Neji, not completely forgetting that he was still awaiting a reply, but as he looked at the grey eyed prince he knew that Neji had noticed his quick survey and before he could answer, he spoke up.

"Oh…" Neji said with knowing, "Sorry, I should not have asked." He apologized.

"No, its okay, it's in the past now so no need to apologize." Naruto told him.

"Naruto is right, it is in the past." Gaara second him.

"But Gaara, if you feel this way then why did you wake up screa-" Neji began to say before Gaara cut him off.

"Neji, stop, don't bring that up, please." Gaara pleaded with him.

"I apologize I did not mean to upset you." Neji said and ran a hand through his loose hair in an almost embarrassed way.

"No need to apologize, I know you did not mean to." The blood red-haired prince said back to him soothingly. The blonde suddenly felt as if he was intruding on them as they talked, it seemed like something more than just a conversation now, it seemed more _private_. _'Huh, they almost seem like Sasuke and I. Hmm, I wonder if Kankuro is teaching him...'_ The cerulean eyed prince puzzled mentally before the ravens voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Naruto let us get back to your room now, before it gets any later and _before_ we get caught." Sasuke said in a low voice that only the blonde would be able to hear, _'Hn, I wonder if Neji has made his move on him yet.'_ The raven inwardly smirked, he somewhat felt the same way about the current conversation between Gaara and Neji. Though, he had better knowledge to the underlining of current situation.

"Right," Naruto agreed in the same hushed voice, "Well, you guys, we are going to head back to my room now. I _really_ do not want to get caught by Genma-san tonight." he spoke a little louder for Gaara and Neji to hear him.

"That is understandable." Neji turned to him with an amused look. He was obviously remembering the last time Genma caught the blonde roaming the halls at night, and it was not pretty.

"Alright Naruto, Sasuke, Just don't get caught creeping out of here, I do _not_ want to get in trouble either." Gaara chuckled and smiled at Naruto brightly, he always smiled like that whenever he was around and said blonde always returned it with an equally bright smile. However, Naruto didn't fail to notice how Neji stared at the teal eyed prince when he laughed, _'Hmm, I wonder what is up with these two.'_ The tanned prince thought.

"See you guys at breakfast." Sasuke said and headed towards the door that put us closer to Naruto's room.

"Goodnight… again you guys." Naruto said and followed after Sasuke.

"Goodnight." Gaara and Neji said at the same time, Naruto could hear them chuckle quietly at the coincidence as he followed Sasuke out the door.

As the two mischievous princes snuck back down the hall back to the blonde's room, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand in an unconscious gesture. Sasuke only looked down at the contact and smiled, yes, smiled. Naruto loved his smirks and they always took his breath away, but his smiles did something completely different to him, they not only left him breathless and made his head spin, but they made his whole body heat up and made his stomach clench in the most pleasingly weird way. Like what had happened in the pool earlier, _'Speaking of which, I will have to ask him more about that later.'_ Naruto thought idly. Though, he often wondered if he was alone in thinking like this whenever they held hands, but after seeing Iruka and Kakashi earlier, he figured thinking like _this_ was not that bad. They continued down the long hallway quietly and hesitantly, until they finally reached the blondes' room and quickly stepped inside.

"We were lucky not to run into any of the guards, especially Genma-san." Sasuke said in the same low voice as before.

"I agree, I don't think I could deal with him _or_ my parents if I were to get caught. We should get back to bed now." Naruto said and ran a hand through his spiky hair. His other hand was still holding Sasukes.

"So now you agree with me, _Dobe_?" The onyx eyed prince smirked and then pulled the whisker cheeked prince towards the bed.

"I would have agreed with you earlier, but you know I was not ready to go back to sleep just yet." The azure eyed prince told him and glared slightly.

"Sorry about that actually, I knew you most likely did not want to go back to sleep right away, but I figured since I was here, you would." Sasuke admitted and with the dim light of the moon pouring into the room Naruto thought he saw him blush, _'Is he embarrassed?'_ Naruto thought and furrowed his brow slightly.

"Sasuke….?" Naruto asked and cocked his head at the pale prince.

"Nothing," Sasuke said quickly and pushed the blonde down onto the bed, forcing him lay down and then looked down at him, "Now, will you go to sleep?" He continued.

"Alright alright, whatever you say _teme_." Naruto mumbled and rolled onto his side to face him.

"Good," Sasuke said through a yawn and grabbed each side of the tanned princes face, said tanned prince just stared at him in shock and blushed, "Good night Prince Naruto Uzumaki." The raven continued using the blonde's full name and title, and then proceeded to kiss him gently on his petal pink lips, his lips were so soft and warm, then slowly pulled back and smirked. Naruto quickly debated with himself that he was beginning to like this form of kissing instead of the usual kiss on the cheek or forehead. The blonde had also heard people announce his name like that on a daily basis but when Sasuke said his name like that, it simply made him ecstatic and the fact that the pale Uchiha kissed him on his lips only fueled the grin that nearly split his face in two. However, he managed to recover himself slightly and jibe Sasuke back in the same formal gesture.

"And a very Good night to you as well, Prince Sasuke Uchiha may sleep find you well." Naruto smiled at him and almost hesitantly stroked his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted his response and smiled once more, causing the blonde's dazzling smile to return with full force. If Naruto thought that Sasuke's smiles made his heart race, then he would be pleased to know that his bright smiles made said ravens heart skip a beat or two whenever he let one show, which was quite often.

The sleep that Naruto had following their short show of somewhat personal affection, led way to one of the most peaceful rest he had had in a while. Naruto knew that they were just joking with each other, but for some reason something tugged at the back of his mind that this was somehow different. Sasuke was his best friend, they practically grew up together since their mothers were the best of friends, they had always put them together when either one of them traveled to each others' castles for tea or other get-togethers. As Naruto fell into unconsciousness, he wondered idly if Sasuke might have felt the same way he did, in the way they said our good nights and with that thought on his mind, he peacefully fell asleep.

As Naruto slept, for who knows how long, he could've sworn heard an annoying knocking sound, for a moment he thought he might have been dreaming until he heard someone softly call his name. The drowsy blonde then opened one blue eye and saw that Sasuke still asleep, he briefly thought that the raven might have been the one who called his name, but he obviously wasn't. He then heard the knocking again and then his name being called a bit louder, he then realized that it was Ayame, and looked over to wooden clock on the bed side table and the time it told was a clear indication that it was indeed almost time for him to be awakened. He then quickly sat up in the bed and looked over at Sasuke before giving her permission to enter.

"Yes Ayame-san, you may come in." He croaked his voice full of sleep.

"Ah, young Master, were you already up?" Ayame asked as she stepped through the door.

"I am afraid not, your knocking is what awakened me." He informed her.

"Yes, well I suppose that is for the best as it's time for you to start your morning young sir…. Oh, the young Master Uchiha is here as well?" She said and then turned her attention to the sleeping Uchiha beside him.

"Oh uh, yes, we had a bit of a sleepover." Naruto told her and then felt somewhat foolish at his answer, _'Why did I say sleepover, is not the fact that he is already supposed to be sleeping a few doors down classified as sleeping over?'_ He thought.

"Hmm, is that so? Well, as long as Genma-sama didn't catch you two roaming the halls last night, I'm sure there's no harm done." She said automatically seeing right through the blonde prince's lie.

"Yes Ma'am." The tanned prince said and blushed lightly.

"Well now, why don't you wake up young Master Uchiha while I prepare your bath, is that alright with you young Master?" Ayame asked me.

"Yes, that is fine." Naruto agreed with her and waited until she was completely in the bathroom before he turned to Sasuke, but instead of waking him up right away, he quietly looked at the pale ravens sleeping face, _'He really is pretty handsome, but man, he can sleep through anything!' _The blonde exclaimed in thought. He then stopped his appraising of his sleeping face and shook his shoulder rather roughly, knowing that a gentler shake would most likely _not_ wake him.

"Hey, Sasuke, it's time to get up," Naruto said as he shook the sleeping raven, but there was no reply, "_Teme_, wake up!" The blonde prince said just loud enough so that Ayame would not hear him, and punched Sasuke in his shoulder.

"_Ugh_, Naruto, what are you doing?" Sasuke stirred and glared at his attacker while moving to a sitting position.

"It is time to get up _teme_, Ayame-san is now running my bath, are you going to join me?" Naruto asked him with a smirk and noticed that Sasuke was rubbing his shoulder, which was growing redder and redder.

"Hmph, I might as well after getting beat on while sleeping, _dobe_." He smirked.

"Well, if you weren't such a heavy sleeper, you would have heard Ayame-san come in and the small conversation we had." Naruto jibed at him as he slid off the edge of the bed and stretched, then turned to see Sasuke stepping down from off the bed as well, only to sit back down in one of the chairs by the window.

"I wonder if we will have the scheduled lessons for today or if the majority of the day will be dedicated to the dancing lesson." Sasuke said after a moment of silence.

"Hmm, I am sure Genma-san will inform us after breakfast." Naruto told him and went to sit in an empty chair across from the pale prince and as they sat there, they chattered idly about the things that they had encountered last night, especially Kakashi and Iruka sensei.

"I am honestly still in disbelief that we saw that." Naruto absentmindedly scratched his cheek.

"I know, I do not necessarily have a problem with, um, two men being together, but it was still a shock to stumble upon such a scene." Sasuke shook his head slowly.

"I agree, I wonder if Genma-san heard anything from Iruka sensei's room, he _was_ patrolling the halls last night." Naruto thought aloud and furrowed his brow in concentration.

"Hmm, they are all friends, so maybe he already knew?" Sasuke cocked his head to the side.

"Possibly, though I cannot say I would be surprised if he did know." The blonde said through a yawn just as Ayame came back into the bedroom and informed the two chattering princes that the bath was ready. As they approached her, she bowed and greeted Sasuke just as he greeted her as well and continued into the bathroom. As the two boys sat in the huge tub their conversation ebbed and flowed occasionally, but in the end they stopped talking, simply choosing to let the hot water wake them up even further, and as usual, Naruto could not keep his eyes to himself and found them often drifting back to Sasukes' naked body numerous times during their time in the bath. However, Sasuke also couldn't keep his eyes to himself either and often stole glances towards the peeping blonde, even though it was through their peripheral that they stole these secret glances, they both could've sworn that the other was secretly staring at the other, though according to them they might have just imagined it.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Now, how many of you expected the boys findings? When I wrote this I really wanted to get something like that in the story asap, and I fear I might have just brought it out of nowhere... if you feel that way, here is my apology in advance 'Gomen ne!'. But, until next time! Ja ne, And as always, **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! **(but, whether you do or don't, I will put them up anyways... but there still very much appreciated.)

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	10. Symptoms

**AN: **H-hello, all (gulps) well... I have FINALLY finished this chapter, as I said I give you all full rights to hurt me! (deeply bows). I'm not going to lie and say that I have been too busy to do this chapter, cause I obviously had enough time to write two new stories! But, I just cannot say how sorry I am! _**Hontoni gomen ne**_! I know you don't care, but I just finished this chapter and it is nearly 4am here, but I said I would not rest until I completed this chapter and I meant it! Now, about this chapter... just... don't kill me yet okay! I wanted to do this... matte, go on and read before I type too much!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s) in later chapters, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Ten**

**Symptoms**

Once they were finished with their bathing, Ayame along with another one of the Namikaze castle maids named Amayo dressed the young princes for the day. She was a very pretty woman with very dark purple hair and dark red eyes'. To Naruto she and Ayame were, the only two in the castle who could get him dressed in record time, which really saved him from being late to his lessons, well sometimes it did. As they finished dressing the young boys in simple outfits, though still very much-so royal garbs, they heard someone knock on the main bedroom door.

"Come in." Naruto called to the door, the maids however continued their current ministrations as they heard the door open and only seconds later saw Genma round the corner to the very spacious dressing room where they currently were.

"Young Masters, it's good to see that you two are already up." Genma said as a senbon hung out the corner of his mouth, the young blonde has once asked him why he would keep something so dangerous in his mouth, but he simply replied that- _'It came in handy'_. Needless to say, the young Uzumaki was left even more confused than before.

"Yes, Ayame came and awakened them quite some time ago, Genma." Amayo informed him with a small smile.

"That's good to hear, I know these two would sleep the day away if they were given the chance to do so." Genma chuckled and mussed both of the, now scowling, princes hair.

"The only one who would sleep the day away is _Sasuke_." Naruto told Genma and then smirked at Sasuke, who was now glaring icily at the wise cracking blonde.

"Shut up _dobe_." Sasuke grumbled at the tanned prince, with a slight smirk.

"Hmm? I must be dreaming, because I know you didn't just use such language Young Master Uchiha." Genma spoke and glowered at Sasuke.

At that, Naruto had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud at the looks that flashed across Sasuke's face. His expression went from shock, to fear and finally settled on amused. He was young and cocky, a dangerous combination to use in front of Genma Tenui. Had he forgotten how Genma punished the children when they were in the wrong? Well, he would find out sooner or later.

"Hn," Sasuke huffed and smirked at Genma, "Well, seeing as how you are standing here talking so casually with us, I would assume that you are indeed _awake_." He continued and replied jokingly at him.

"My my, young Prince, aren't you being very cocky this morning? Keep it up and I'll just have to make sure you learn your lesson for behaving in such a way, now won't I?" Genma smiled evilly at him. Sasuke was really going to pay for that because whenever Genma smiled, it was _never_ good.

"You are in so much trouble now _tem_-Sasuke." Naruto jibed at the doomed raven and almost slipped by calling him the nickname he called him. He knew full well what Genma would do should he use such language in front of him and he did _not_ want to suffer the same fate as the Uchiha, not today, not when he had his bi-weekly psychological examination with his grandmother and Gaara. How he detested those meetings, what good was it doing to have him and Gaara go through the same test over and over?

"Now now, you watch yourself young sir. The both of you need not get in trouble." Amayo chided Naruto, bringing him back to the present, and finished the last alterations on Sasuke's outfit.

"There, done. Now, young sir please refrain from having Genma punish you as well. It's a shame we couldn't save Prince Sasuke though." Ayame said as she finished dressing Naruto and turned to Sasuke with a sweet smile.

"Thank you Ayame-san and I will try to stay out of trouble." Naruto reassured her.

"And I will be alright, his _'Lessons'_ cannot be that difficult," Sasuke said to Ayame and smirked at Genma, "And thank you as well Amayo-san." He continued and thanked her with a small sincere smile, at which Naruto proceeded to gape at him like a fish out of water but quickly recovered himself enough to speak once he saw the look on Genma's face.

"Um, Sasuke, you might want to be quiet now." Naruto whispered to Sasuke, hoping fervently that his warning would shut him up. _'Has he lost his mind? I think he has, he _must_ have lost it to challenge Genma-san like this!'_ The blonde wagered mentally.

"Hn." Sasuke huffed and turned toward the eerily calm Genma.

"Hmm, you think my _'lessons'_ will not be difficult, is that correct?" Genma questioned the young Uchiha.

"How bad could they be? After all, Naruto is still in one piece after being _'punished'_ by you." Sasuke mentioned and smirked at a now wide eyed blonde. Who then mentally kicked himself for having his usual reaction to Sasukes' smirks and during such a situation no less!

"Hmph, we shall see about that young sir. Now, if you two will follow me, we must collect the other young heirs for breakfast." Genma said nonchalantly with a scowl at Sasuke, and then motioned for the princes to follow him out of the room.

Thankfully they did not have to wait for the others, as they were already dressed and waiting for Naruto and whichever castle maid or guard he had accompanying him this morning. The first room they stopped at was Gaara's and, to Sasuke and Naruto's not so much surprise, Neji was waiting there along with him.

"Good to see you two are up already as well." Genma said to waiting duo as he and the two following heirs entered the room.

"Yes, we have actually just finished being dressed for the day and had sat down right before you entered Genma-san." Neji told him.

"Good morning Naruto, Sasuke, Genma-san." Gaara greeted them from Neji's side.

"Good morning to you Gaara, Neji." Naruto smiled widely at them, which caused Gaara to smile an almost equally wide smile as said blonde.

"Alright young Sirs', let's continue on to the other young Sirs' rooms." Genma clasped his hands together and motioned once again for the young ones to head back out the door.

As they continued towards Shino's room, he was currently leaning against the wall and greeted the group with a simple nod of his head, really, would it kill him to speak more? None the less, they continued down the hall and around a corner to pick up Choji and Lee. The last two spared the growing group the task of extra walking, but at the same time surprised them by already being in the same room. Shika and Kiba were currently sitting on a big deep red couch positioned in the break way entrance to Shika's room chatting, more like one sided chatting really, because as usual Shika was on the verge of falling back asleep.

"Hey you guys! Kiba, what are you doing here in Shika's room?" Naruto asked and raised his brow.

"Naruto, you are as bad as Lee, both of you are too loud." Shikamaru sighed and stood up.

"We are not!" Lee and Naruto both shouted at the same time and then laughed at the coincidence.

"Either way, I just came here to save you the trouble of walking _all_ over the castle! Some thanks are in order don't you think?" Kiba exclaimed and proceeded to look very hurt. It was funny, because knowing Kiba, he would _always _do something that ended up with Naruto or anyone else going to the extremes to locate him.

"Sure Kiba, like the time you hid at Gaara's place when we tried to meet up for Chiyo-sama's medical examination?" Sasuke brought up the perfect example of a pervious incident, which left the group of friends searching all over Gaara's castle for the dog lover. Chiyo Suna is Gaara's grandmother, she would often instruct the princes and princesses on how to perform simple bandage methods, ointment application and other scenarios that might require health attention. She would also entertain them with puppet shows in which Kankuro, Gaara's older brother, had taken a serious liking to.

"Uh, well, yes…That was different." Kiba sputtered and scratched the back of his head, a habit which Naruto was sure he picked up from him.

"Sure it was." Gaara smirked at Kiba, who only replied with a low growl and brushed past the snickering group out into the hall to lean against the wall. The others promptly followed after the sulking Inuzuka and finally made their way to the dining hall, where Itachi was currently awaiting the young group's arrival with all of the princesses.

As the group walked in, along with Genma, they didn't fail to notice that neither Naruto nor the Uchiha's parents were present, but that was to be expected to some degree since they all had decided to _surprise_ the young heirs with a winter ball specifically for them, therefore it was only right that they had _many_ things to plan and get in order for said event. Which would also be a joint birthday celebration for Hinata and, if Kushina managed to get away with it, Minato, though he mentioned many times to his plotting wife that this ball was to focus solely on the _children_ and nothing else.

"Goodness, it's about time you boys got here!" Ino exasperated as the young men walked in.

"Well, seeing as how there are more boys than girls here today it's to be expected. Besides, don't you girls wake up even earlier than us?" Shikamaru mentioned with a slight frown as he sat down across from said complaining blonde princess, _'I swear, all she does is complain and bicker. I don't see how Choji can stand to be around that.'_ He inwardly groaned.

"Tsk, that is not a very good excuse Shika! Be it as there may be more of you here that still does not give you probable reason to be late and keep us ladies waiting!" Ino countered while nonchalantly smoothing out here napkin on her lap.

"So troublesome, I swear—" Shikamaru all but groaned before he was cut off.

"Alright, alright, that is enough you two. As long as everyone is here now, that's all that counts right?" Itachi smirked at the bickering pair and the turned his gaze towards Genma, who was currently staring down his little brother, and dismissed him. Only once Genma had left the room did Itachi begin speaking again, "Now, before we begin eating—" The long haired raven continued, but was interrupted by certain cubby prince.

"_Before_ we eat? That's not fair!" Choji whined and rubbed his grumbling stomach.

"— I have a few things to relay to you from the adults," The older Uchiha continued with a raised onyx brow at the interruption, "As you all probably already figured out, there will be mandatory ballroom dancing lessons for the majority of the day. Also, it has been decided that you young heirs will perform a special waltz for the guest, sound's great does it not?" He finished with a playful smirk at the disgruntled young ones.

"Please, I pray that you are only kidding Itachi." Shikamaru said in a pained voice and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hahah, it's not going to be that bad Shika, this gives you all a chance to show off your skills! On the contrary, dancing is very entertaining. I'm fairly sure you all do not recall, but I, along with Temari, Hana and Kankuro preformed the same waltz when we were your age." The long haired Uchiha chuckled.

"Really? That's great you should have mentioned that first! Now I feel so much better." Kiba said with faux enthusiasm, with the most skeptical look to follow.

"You boys' are forever complaining! This is going to be fun!" Tenten cheered and clasped her hands together with utter glee.

"Yeah, sure it will be." Sasuke grumbled. _'Girls find everything fun.'_ He affirmed in thought.

"Hey, look at it like this: We get a day off from tutoring and the other lessons!" Sakura mentioned with an accomplished grin.

"She is right! What else can be better than that?" Lee exclaimed with an exuberant grin.

"It's times like these that I actually _want_ to be in therapy." Naruto leaned to whisper to Gaara, who nodded his head in sad agreement. Though, the conversation was picked up by the oldest Uchiha, who then cleared his throat to speak.

"As it so happens, Naruto, Gaara," Itachi called for their attention, "You two will have the fortune of missing today's lesson, such request was ordered by Lady Tsunade." He continued with a knowing expression.

"_Great_." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Spoke too soon." Gaara shook his head at the irony.

"Hey, it's only for today. You two can suffer with us tomorrow." Neji nudged the annoyed looking redhead with a small grin, who then returned the gesture with a faint smile of his own.

"Speaking of suffering, I'm suffering from a lack of food!" Choji whimpered and rubbed his growling belly, "Can we eat now?" He continued with a whine.

"Hah, okay Choji, calm down." Itachi said and motioned for one of the maids standing to the far side of the room to proceed with serving breakfast.

As the group continued on with their meal, they easily made light of the previous conversation concerning Naruto and Gaara and instead joked on who might make a fool of themselves at the ball, such as missing a step during the waltz or getting reprimanded by their parents. They had all come to the assumption that Naruto, Kiba and Lee would be the winners in that category, with the possibility of Sasuke as well. Even so, Naruto and Gaara were both very grateful that their unwanted request was not a topic of interest, though they both knew better than to think that the others weren't thinking about it. Neither of the two liked to discuss what went on in those sessions, unless they were able to make light of it, such as the time when Gaara erupted into a fit of uncharacteristic laughter. It was beyond creepy, but it was also hilarious to see the redhead laughing like he was being tickled to the point of tears. And then there was the time when Naruto threw one of the biggest, if only, temper tantrum his grandmother had ever seen, it was very unnerving to witness, but at the same time she felt it was in his best interest to vent from the years of therapy. After his temper cooled, they were all able to make light of it and tease the red-faced blonde, who didn't even remember the previous action.

In all, the sessions were unwanted, but then again they could prove entertaining at times and those times consisted solely on the times where they both weren't taking a turn for the worse and a possibly more dangerous route. In which case they were both refrained from being around others, which to them was worse than any form of tutoring and etiquette lessons their parents could put them through. Such as the impending Waltzing lesson, in which the others were to depart too at any moment, having now finished their breakfast and carrying on various conversations.

"Well, it's about time I escort you all to the ballroom for your lesson." Itachi nodded and stood, which prompted the others to follow suit.

"Can I not sit this lesson out Nii-chan?" Sasuke questioned the long haired raven as he came to stand beside him.

"Now Sasuke, you know I am in no position to say whether or not you may be excused. That is up to mother and father to decide." Itachi smirked and mussed his slightly sulking brothers' duck-butt hair, and continued forward.

"That is far from fair!" Sasuke crossed his arms, but none the less followed after him, with Naruto by his side and the others trailing along.

"It really will be unfair if I get stuck with you or Shika as a dance partner." A young girls' voice spoke up as the group walked down the hall. The sound of the voice sent a shiver down both Naruto and Shikamaru's, who quickly became alert at the sound, spines once they processed to whom it belonged to, this day was starting off with a bang.

"Why…" Shika groaned as he turned to the hot pink haired girl, who was one year his elder.

"Tayuya, what are you-" Naruto began to question as he turned to face his maniacal cousin, but was shocked even further as he saw her equally crazed sister beside her, "Not you to Karin! What are you two doing here?" He demanded in disbelief. _'Please just be visiting for the day, please just be visiting for the day!'_ He mentally pleaded.

"What do you mean you inconsiderate twerp!" The equally hot pink haired girl, Karin, exclaimed and made a grab at her blue eyed cousin, who quickly jumped back and hid behind Itachi.

"Cut it out Karin!" The tanned whisker cheeked prince glared.

"Both of you stop fooling around at this moment!" A female voice ordered from outside the groups' destination, "Naruto, Gaara, come with me. The rest of you continue on." The hazel eyed grandmother instructed with a forced smile towards the mentioned pair, obviously trying to keep herself from swatting he pink haired granddaughter.

"Hah, it is good to see you in such great spirits Lady Tsunade." Itachi smirked at the irritated blonde former queen.

"Don't push me Uchiha!" Tsunade flicked him as he passed, along with the other young ones, with the exception of the two hot pink haired sisters.

"Why do they get to skip today's lesson grandmother?" Tayuya asked with a miffed expression.

"Exactly, and aren't we learning a new dance as well?" Karin added with the same look.

"Are you two questioning me?" Tsunade glared menacingly at the two offenders.

"Not at all!" They said in unison and quickly retreated into the ballroom without further hesitation.

"I swear those two…" Tsunade grumbled and turned back towards the quietly standing boys, who wisely chose to keep their mouths shut, "Hmm, are you two okay?" She inquired and put a hand to both the males' heads.

"Yes Lady Tsunade, I feel fine." Gaara answered with a small smile.

"As do I grandmother." Naruto nodded, though if he was being honest he wasn't feeling completely himself and that didn't go unnoticed by his pigtailed grandmother.

"Twerp, you have a bit of a fever. Don't lie to me." Tsunade frowned at him.

"Grandma, I did just get assaulted by Karin." The tanned prince mentioned with a skeptical look, fervently hoping that that was a good enough excuse.

"Hmm, I suppose. Now, come, the sooner we get started the sooner you two can have some fun." Tsunade grinned and prodded them towards a hall behind the grand staircase, which would lead them to the room they had come to hate. As they quietly walked in front of the diamond tattooed woman, Gaara couldn't help but to notice a faint blush covering Naruto's cheeks, the teal eyed prince wasn't naïve enough to believe Naruto when he stated that he was just flustered from dodging his cousin, Naruto could do much more strenuous activities and not be affect in the slightest. So, maybe he was developing a fever, he was running around barefoot during the night that could cause him to become sick. As Gaara thought these things over, he failed to notice that they had arrived at their destination and his attention was brought to this by the yank on his sleeve.

"Not so fast Suna." Tsunade smirked and directed him into the room, having thought he was trying to unceremoniously ditch.

"Oh, I apologize." The redhead grinned sheepishly and quickly made his way to accompany the blue eyed prince on the large couch. However, no sooner than he had sat down did Naruto fall over and collapse onto the plush carpeted flooring with a thud.

"Naruto?" Tsunade called in a calm voice, thinking that he was just fooling around and trying to get out of their little session. But, none the less, she quickly made her way over to him, only to find that he was panting and sweating heavily, as well as burning up when she put her hand to his forehead, "Dammit! I knew you were lying! Gaara go retrieve Shizune-" She cursed and began to instruct the redhead, but was silenced when she turned to see Gaara collapsed as well on the couch and panting just as heavily, "Dammit!" She cursed again while jumping to her feet and quickly making her way out the room, only to crash into one of the guards, who wore a bandana and kept his left eye covered by his hair.

"Ah, Izumo! Quickly find Shizune and inform my daughter that we have a problem!" Tsunade ordered the slightly bewildered guard.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Izumo stuttered and raced off down the hall. Almost as soon as she had gotten the order out of her mouth, Tsunade quickly strode back over to the two distressed boys, who only seemed to have taken turns for the worse, though her grandson had nearly ceased his sweating, she nearly burned her hand off when she tried to check his temperature, the same went for Gaara, though he had begun writhe in evident pain. While Naruto still lay completely still on the floor, obviously unconscious from the fever.

"Come on you two snap out of it!" Tsunade hissed and reached for a vase full of flowers, only to toss them out and drench two rags in the cool water and place them on the boys' foreheads. She couldn't do much other than this until Shizune arrived, being that she did not want to stray too far from the two in case things got worse. However, just as she changed the boys' rags, the door flew open to reveal a short raven haired woman.

"Lady Tsunade, what wrong—" Shizune inquired in a slightly breathless voice, but quickly ascertained the situation at hand as she took in the state of the boys, who were both, now, completely unconscious.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>So... was it good? Sorry for the cliffhanger after such a long wait! (dodges thrown objects) Hey! Please, bear with me! I know you all are dying to read more, but, look, you have my other story and I'll be submitting the newest story soon! So, you can occupy yourselves with those! Okay? I'm sorry! I will certainly post on time with this story from now on! Mata ne! (Runs off into the dark)

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	11. A Mage and a Warning

**AN: **To burn me at the cross would be granted! For it has been a whole freaking year and a HALF that I have gone without giving you all the next chapter to this story! I SWEAR it has not seem to have been a year in its entirety since I last updated for ROYALTIES! *BOWS* Apologies are just not enough to convey what I feel for having made you all wait! So, my penance for doing such, I am going to spend this WHOLE day (which is my day off from my horrible job) writing as many chapters as I can for this! Gracious me oh my! Even with all of the PM's for the continuation... never the less, please, go on and read this long awaited chapter!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s) in later chapters, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><span><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Eleven**

**A mage and a warning!**

Once again, there was darkness, complete and utter nothing. No sound, wind, smell… just darkness as Naruto and Gaara floated in their unconscious state. But unlike the first time, seven years ago, when they first encountered this black void, there was no sensation of danger, there was just… nothing.

"Gaara, are you okay?" Naruto turned to Gaara, remembering the last time they were here, and how everything went to hell pretty fast.

"Uh, yeah… I think so. What about you?" Gaara rubbed his tattoo and examined his hand for any traces of blood, just as Naruto did the same only in lifting his shirt to check his stomach.

"So far I'm okay to… w-what's going to happen this time?" Naruto asked rhetorically, though it was clear that he was becoming frightened from the tone of his voice. But, before he or Gaara could even think of what to say next, a feeling of calm coolness wafted through-out the void followed by a gentle voice.

"Fear not young ones, this is my doing and not one intended to bring harm." The voice filled the silence.

"W-who are you?" Gaara knitted his brows into the darkness.

"I am a mage, you may call me 'Haku'." The feminine voice spoke again from somewhere in the void.

"If you are not going to hurt us, then why did you bring us back to this place?" Naruto folded his arms and squinted in an attempt to see something, if anything, in the darkness.

"Such an outspoken young prince, aren't you?" Haku spoke in a somewhat tight voice and partially materialized a couple feet in front of them. However, they couldn't see the figures face as it was obscured by a big hat draped with white cloths along the rim. The only thing they could distinguish was her long black hair that hugged her face, whereas the rest faded with the darkness surrounding them, "Now, we must make this quick, my summons last not but for a short time." The figure mention with apparent anxiousness.

"We?" Naruto and Gaara piped in unison, "what is it that you mean by that?" Gaara continued in question.

"I mean," The figure said and pointed to something behind the two boys, "they're quickly approaching, and I have yet to give you your directions." They continued as soon as the young princes' turned to see the long repressed red and yellow foxes stalking in the distance, though no sooner had they laid eyes on the two creatures, did their markings throb in pain followed by the creatures lurching towards them a few more feet.

"Why are they here!?" Naruto whipped around and balled his fist around his aching stomach.

"Because they live here, they live in you now," The figure stated and swiped their hand around, and once the motion came to an end two mirrors materialized before them, "we're in your psyche, the space between reality and dreams… and in this case, death." They continued and as their voice faded images seeped onto the mirrors, it didn't take long for them to see that the images before them were actually memories, some more current than the other, one being of Naruto and Sasuke in the pool, another of Gaara and Neji in bed… both of which images cause the two of them to bristle and blush in pure embarrassment.

"What do you want with us?" Gaara cleared his throat twice before clearly speaking.

"I have come to help you, now, listen carefully," The figure said and swayed their hand over the mirrors, causing them to dispel, "things that have been long in plot are soon to be put into action young ones, and that of which is plotted… is against you, and any others that surround you. Those beasts' _there_ are the main target to be precise." They warned and once more, as the two of them turned around and looked towards the creatures, they lurched even closer and in turn their markings pulsed in pain again.

"Help us? You seem to be doing quite the opposite madam!" Naruto hissed out, nearly doubled over in pain.

"….. Heh, tonight young ones, though it may be folly that you should do so, you will have a chance…" The soft voice said as the figure started to dissipate, "through burlesque district, past the mason you shall find me…." The voice faded ever more until there was nothing but a soft echo, "mirrors…." Was the last thing said before the voice faded completely followed by the loss of the calmness around them, though what was replaced was the same hot and tension filled air from before, with a rising since of fear.

"N-n-naruto…" Gaara said so softly that Naruto almost ignored him, having thought for a second that he was hearing things.

"Did you say some—" Naruto turned to regard his friend, but before he could even finish, he turned to be no more than ten feet from the once prowling foxes. The two, and now upon closer inspection _massive_, vibrant colored creatures were currently staring death down at the two princes before them, their fur bristling in fury and just as the young boys took an involuntary step back, the deadliest of growls ripped through the foxes gleaming and razor sharp teeth.

"_Mine…"_ The oddest of voices seethed from both of the creatures bared teeth, though at this point the two boys were far beyond the point of terror to even _process_ the fact that the monsters had spoken. But before they or the foxes could make another move or sound a blinding flash of light flashed between the four of them, followed by two voices, the second more familiar than the first.

"Get away boys!" The soft voice from before, sounded from the light, followed by the blonde haired boys' grandmother.

"Wake up you two!" Tsunade's voice thundered through the darkness.

Gaara, run!" Naruto shrieked and without a word, the two boys took off opposite of the light and the beast, but once they got not even a few yards from the standoff behind them, they seemingly tripped and fell into nothingness before suddenly snapping their eyes open to the ceiling of the castle infirmary.

"Oh thank gods!" Kushina shuddered in exasperation and let her head fall onto her sons' chest.

"Gaara!" Two voices' sounded in unison not far away.

"T-temari… Kankuro?" Gaara's voice questioned in pure bewilderment.

"Mother this has gone _too_ far now!" Kushina snapped her tear filled eyes at the tired looking woman, as she was now checking the vitals of her grandson, "They have been unconscious for _six_ hours! That is _four hours_ longer than the last time that this happened!" She exclaimed and clenched at the sheet covering her son.

"Daughter, if you do not cease that _incessant_ worrying, you will be the next one in this castle to be unconscious!" Tsunade snapped from pure exhaustion and frustration at how the day had turned.

"M-mother, grandmother…" Naruto peeped out weariness and gave the pair of women a pleading look.

"…. Tsk, forgive me Kushina," Tsunade sighed and placed her hand atop her daughters before stepping to observe Gaara next, "surely you feel just as I do in all of this, these events are certainly taking a toll on us all." She continued as apologetic as apologies went when they came from her, "Temari, Kankuro, you two go meet back up with the other children now. Both your parents and Minato should be returning any moment now and with that we needn't have this room become too crowded, however, the pair of you have been more than helpful these past few hours indeed." She finished and regarded the two teens.

"But, lady Tsunade we—" Kankuro began to rebut, though he was swiftly interrupted.

"Excuse me, but I don't believe I gave way for any defiant rebuttal young man." Tsunade narrowed her eyes dangerously at the face painted teen, whom only gulped at the stare and turned to his blonde haired sister.

"M-madam Kushina, surely there is no urgent reason for us to leave our little brother right now." Temari attempted to persuade the violet eyed woman.

"Ah, the children of today! So eager to assist, even though they have done their justice in doing so already, t'would be a shame should Akurei find his children being disobedient, now wouldn't it?" Kushina slowly stood and faux as much playful enthusiasm, as she normally had, towards the two teens and then gave them a playful wink.

"W-we shall take our leave now!" Both Temari and Kankuro straightened up quickly and bowed their leave. Though, once they were out of the room, Kushina sluggishly lowered herself back into the chair next to her son and patted his head.

"Naruto, Gaara, are you two truly alright?" She questioned the two still laying down kids.

"Yes, lady Kushina." Gaara informed and mustered up as much strength as he could in order to sit up, but he was quickly halted by the blonde haired woman.

"Not just yet young Suna, remain as you were for now." Tsunade ordered.

"I'm fine mother, honestly." Naruto turned his head to his mother and gave a small nod.

"Shizune, any word yet on the men's location?" Tsunade turned to her subordinate.

"I-I shall check now M'lady! Excuse me!" Shizune bowed and hurried out of the room.

"Dear lord," The blonde haired woman exhaled as she sank into her desk chair, "Minato and the others seem like experts when it comes to leaving the castle at the wrong time, no matter what the case may be." She thought aloud and began scribbling in a thick book.

"Oh mother, be nice, it cannot be helped. This years' winter ball is to be at the Uchiha place, such a huge event requires major preparations… however unfortunate this all may be, I am thankful that the boys are alright now and that the Uchiha's land is but only five hours away…." Kushina said with a small smile and mussed both of the boys' hair, she mentally thanked whatever forces allowed her to have such a strong will.

"Yes, speaking of which… do you think keenly on going ahead with this years' ball, daughter?" Tsunade questioned without looking up from her scribbling.

"But of course mother! The boys, all the children in fact, need a time of fun! I think this ball will be beneficial for everyone!" Kushina shot up from her seat and looked at her mother with determination.

"I see you feel strongly on the topic Kushina, however," Tsunade placed her feathered pen back in its holder, "should we not ask these two whether they feel the same way?" She continued and motioned towards the still reclined boys, who had been silently looking back and forth between the two women the entire time.

"Ah… well, sweeties, what say you on the matter?" Kushina turned back to the preteen boys.

"W-well," Both boys faltered in unison, "it's a combination ball right? Hinata's birthday will be celebrated as well, I wouldn't want to ruin that for her, mother." Naruto continued and mentioned something that both women had honestly forgotten.

"I agree, I think the ball should continue." Gaara nodded and looked at Tsunade as he slowly propped himself up.

"You see mother, it is a necessary event!" Kushina placed her hands on her side in triumph.

"Indeed that is so, though I still believe that these two should—" Tsunade nodded, but before she could continue she was interrupted by a knock on the medical room door, "Hm? I don't believe Minato, let alone Akurei would bother knocking… you may enter!" She mumbled more before giving the okay for whomever to enter.

"Um, is it okay if we come in now?" Neji poked his head in the room cautiously.

"WE?" Kushina spun towards the door, initially having thought that her husband had finally arrived, but upon having seen who it actually and who pushed in behind him, she mellowed back down.

"Move Hyuga! Aunt Kushina are they awake yet!?" Sasuke pushed the brown haired boy aside so that he could fully enter the room.

"Good heavens, we get rid of two and two more come rushing in." Tsunade exhaled and rubbed her temples.

"Mother," Kushina chided, "yes Sasuke, Neji, they both did not long ago. However, they are still resting so…" She trailed off, not sure if she should have them leave as well.

"Mother, we are fine now," Naruto spoke up and pushed himself into a sitting position on the cot, "honestly mother, please say that we may at lease have them stay?" He pleaded and gave his mother a look he knew she couldn't refuse.

"Sweety…. Oh, so be it! I suppose it couldn't hurt." Kushina gave in and kissed her son on his forehead, then waved the boys in who quickly took positions beside the teal and blue eyed young men.

"Gaara, are you both okay?" Neji asked as ran over to his best friend, though glanced over to eye his other blonde haired friend as well.

"Yes, we are fine, smothered, but fine." Gaara answered as he pushed himself into a full sitting position.

"Smothered?" Both Kushina and Tsunade deadpanned together and narrowed their eyes at the insulter.

"I, uh, d-did not mean any harm b-by that milady's." The teal eyed boy covered himself.

"Hahah, careful Gaara, they both sting." Naruto giggled, but quickly gulped at the looks the two women now directed at him.

"How can you guys joke after having just been unconscious for hours?" Sasuke looked at his unstable friends.

"My thoughts exactly young Uchiha." Tsunade agreed from across the room, still seated at her desk.

"Because we are fine." Both Naruto and Gaara said in unison. However, no sooner that they said that, did the door to the room fly open.

"Kushina!? Is- are the boys alright!?" Minato flashed over to his wife not even a second after the door initially opened and he was closely followed by Akurei, who albeit a fair bit slower, but still hastily made his way to his sons' side.

"Ah, Minato, Akurei! Finally, the pair of you have arrived," Kushina quickly stood to greet her husband, "they awoke not too long ago, and they say they are quite fine, however…." She continued with the previous look of pure worry once again covering her features.

"It that so…" Akurei spoke and turned to leer at his son, whom ever so slightly cringed at the look, "tell me Gaara, how are you feeling as of now?" He continued with the stern look.

"I… to be honest with father, I do feel a bit exhausted… but—" Gaara hesitated a fair bit before acquiescing to his father's demanding inquiry, though as he tried for a possible excuse as to why it wasn't a big deal, he was cut off.

"_But?_ I see no place for that word in reflection to what I just asked you son." The dull red head man raised a nonexistent brow at his twelve year old son.

"Now, now, Akurei, this is no interrogation we are performing on the boys," Minato said with an understanding smile, "however, Naruto, your looks betray your words. I will not hear any rebuttal, you and Gaara are both being confined to your chamber for the remainder of the day… do I make myself clear and understanding?" He instructed with both a finalizing look and tone.

"Y-yes, father…." Naruto pouted openly and hung his head only to have it mussed by his seemingly calm father.

"Good, now, Genma!" Minato called through his growing anxiety, "please see to it that Naruto and Gaara both head straight for my sons quarters and nowhere else. I'd see them myself, however my wife, Tsunade, Akurei and I have urgent matters to discuss as of now." He instructed once the senbon chewing man stepped into the medical room.

"Yes my lord." Genma bowed and waited for the princes to be removed from their medical beds'.

"Come, you can stand can you not?" Akurei lifted his sleep deprived son off of the high bed and held him steady just in case his questioning was proven false.

"I am fine to walk on my own father." Gaara answered a bit more deflated and proved himself by sluggishly walking over to Genma.

"And you Naruto?" Minato question as he too helped his exhausted looking son down.

"…. Y-yes…" Naruto faltered for a fraction of a second, but seeing the look his mother was giving him he quickly covered himself, "honestly mother, father, I fine enough to walk on my own." He amended and followed after Gaara to the stoic guard.

"We will come to check on you two shortly, I promise." Kushina said in earnest.

"Indeed, by then Karura shall have arrived." Akurei commented while taking a seat in one of the chairs near Tsunade's desk, where she was still seated and silently observing everything, especially the two other young ones in the room.

"Ah, young Sasuke, Neji, if you so wish you may join them. However, I must make myself clear, Genma will be on guard outside of the chamber and if he hears anything close to a ruckus, you two will be reprimanded as he see fit, do I make myself clear and understanding?" Minato informed in all seriousness to the raven and brunette haired princes'.

"W-we understand Lord Minato!" Sasuke and Neji quickly bowed and ran after the three others just outside of the medical room doors and, after receiving dismissal, Genma proceeded to close the door and turned to head in the general direction of Naruto's room. However, before they could get too far away, the young heirs both hear the growing sound of agitated voices from the medical room, surely both Minato and Akurei and begun their torrent of questioning to the mother and daughter.

As they continued to be guided through the castle corridors, the young boys took to about a ten foot trail behind the quite leading Genma. Though they knew full well that he was aware of their distance behind him, they still stayed as far away as to whisper in private, though they _were_ surprised that he was even letting them do such. Neji and Sasuke were both fully aware that they wouldn't question the two boys about the detailed specifics of what they had just went through, just yet, but they did speculate about what the adults may have been discussing and what after effects may come from doing so. They had even briefly discussed the almost cancellation of the winter ball, to which Sasuke and Neji had about a fraction of a minutes worth of glee before Naruto popped their bubble of thoughts on the matter.

"It's for Hinata's birthday as well, lest you forget, so it's not going to be canceled." The blonde haired boy shrugged with a coy smile.

"You almost seem happy that it's not canceled for that reason alone, dobe." Sasuke leered at his best friend, jealousy just touching on his tongue.

"Hmm? May perhaps you're jealous, teme," Naruto grinned sneakily at the raven, "do you have no sympathetic feelings for our dear Princess Hyuga? I'm sure Neji would very much so have something to say in regard to that, right Neji?" He continued jokingly and looked over at the grey eyed thirteen year old.

"Hn, what you two fail to realize, it that no matter the title of the ball, there will be one held in her honor," Neji mentioned, "furthermore, we've all been to our fair share of formal balls and cotillions, so I can sympathize with Sasuke in that aspect and that alone." He continued with a raised brow at the raven, which in turn cause both Naruto and previously quiet Gaara to snicker with modest humor, and earn an irritated glare from the Uchiha.

"Indeed, Sasuke, you ought to know that Neji would never want anything other than the best for both Hinata and Hanabi, to think otherwise would be taboo." Gaara said in amusement.

"Hn, so I'm to believe that I am the only one who still disagrees with this winters ball?" Sasuke clicked and looked forward into the back of the still seemingly inattentive escort as he lead the way down the final hall to the blondes room.

"So it would seem Prince Sasuke," Genma suddenly spoke up and came to a stop at their destination, "no point in brooding about such an affair now." He continued with a smug look.

"Excuse me, but I do not recall asking for your input on the matter." Sasuke crossed his arms and stared down the older male as the other young men side-stepped the standoff, not wanting any part of what the back-talking raven was possibly now sentenced for.

"Well, well, it seems as though the young Uchiha wishes not to join his friends for the remainder of the evening." Genma mention and narrowed his eyes at the smart comment. However, before he or Sasuke could say or do anything else, Naruto popped back out of his room and wrapped his arm around his defiant friend.

"That will not be necessary my dear Genma, he is simply a bit absentminded from having worried about me all day, he knows not what he says." Naruto quickly covered for the raven.

"Hm… so be it, I'll let his behavior go unwarranted this time," Genma said and flicked the senbon up and down before continuing, "now, heed the Kings request and rest, I'll be right outside should you require anything." He pretty much warned instead of stated and watched as Naruto dragged Sasuke into the room and shut the door.

"Hn, Minato surely knows how to pick his guards…" Sasuke said as he took to sitting on the blonde's massive bed.

"Indeed…" Naruto nodded solemnly before joining him on the bed with a sigh, "he's no doubt going to make sneaking out much harder." He continued with a quick and knowing glance at his teal eyed counterpart. However, that motion was not missed by neither the raven nor the brunette.

"Sneaking out? I know you guys… well, after today you both may be under heavy watch, never the less-" Neji began to question before he was finished by the raven.

"—Why are you sneaking out?" Sasuke raised a dark brow in confusion and only proceeded to furrow his brow in agitation as he caught the same shared look between the red head and blonde as before.

"What's with the repeated glances? You two aren't planning on running away are you?" Neji pointed out and even more pertinently questioned their motive.

"No, no! That's not it in the least…. honest!" Gaara answered and implored once he received a hard look from his brunette counterpart.

"Really Neji, that's not the reason…" Naruto grinned candidly and ignored the pair of eyes burning into the side of his head, "It's, umm… just something…. Well, not IT, more-so that there is someone that we need to see…" He continued with a distant look on his features.

"Oh? And this someone, I'm to guess is someone that neither of your parents know about, hn?" Sasuke inquired.

"Who knows, they could, for the person is somewhere within the kingdom after all…." Naruto stated, still looking as though he was a million miles away.

"You plan on going alone? I find that a fair bit harsh." Neji spoke up and crossed his arms in disappointment, however the slight smirk on his face proved just the opposite, "and if you two are to sneak out, there is much to doubt that Sasuke and I will sit idly by and be left behind." He continued and pulled the red head into a playful headlock.

"Agreed, besides," Sasuke nodded and smirked at his blonde friend before pulling him over to where his head now rested in the ravens lap, "if you somehow manage to sneak out, just how far do you think we will all get with just us four roaming about the kingdom streets without parental guidance?" He continued and posed a serious obstacle.

"…. Umm, I hadn't thought of that…. Naruto?" Gaara frowned in thought and turned to his partner in crime.

"Well…. I'm sure if we're careful…" Naruto mumbled in thought.

"No, Naruto, you forget, this is your kingdom, your relatives, who live closest to the castle, will know who you are without a second glance. I think it best if we have someone older with us to seem less conspicuous." Neji mentioned with his arm now loosely around the red heads shoulder as he was now leaning into his side with a tired look upon his features.

"Hn, well, why not ask Itachi and Deidara? Itachi is now technically an adult, and Deidara is your cousin, so he knows better than anyone the layout of the kingdom and all of its secret passages." Sasuke mentioned which left the room heavy with silence for all of ten seconds before the blue eyed boy shot up and all but bounced off the bed to the floor.

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed and frowned briefly, "Hmph, but just because you thought of this doesn't make you any smarter than me teme!" He jabbed a finger at the stunned looking Uchiha, who only rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Continue to think that, dobe." Sasuke smirked and watched the blonde stride quickly but carefully over to the main chamber doors and proceeded to halfway step out of the room to quip something to Genma whom hadn't moved an inch since they entered the room, however just from the time it took, it was obvious that whatever he was talking to the strict guard about, he was not agreeing easily, but soon enough the blonde strode back into the room with an accomplished grin on his face.

"What was that about?" Gaara tilted his head slightly as he watched his blonde counterpart cross the room and straddle the bed again.

"Heh, just acquiring us more company is all." Naruto grinned mischievously and reassumed his position with his head in the ravens lap.

"I have a fairly accurate idea on whom it may be." Neji smirked in knowing, but that soon faded into a look of concern and as he slyly looked over towards the raven their eyes met in a quiet understanding.

"So… with everything said and in place, do you guys mind enlightening us on why you feel so inclined to sneak out?" Sasuke released the burning question in his head.

"Especially after today's events…" Neji added and pulled away slightly to regard the teal eyed boy next to him.

"… It's because of what happened today that we have to sneak out, even if we asked, there is no doubt in my mind that they would vehemently disagree." Gaara spoke after a brief silence and straightened himself.

"I don't disagree that Aunt Kushina and the others would banish that request, but why is it that you have to go? And where?" Sasuke questioned and eyed his blonde counterpart and he to sit up and pulled his knees to his chest.

"….. I think… we should wait for the rest of our company to arrive, it's too tedious a reason to repeat more than once." Naruto mentioned with a slight shrug, but before either the Hyuga or Uchiha could give any rebuttal, there came a quick rasp on the main chamber doors.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Just you wait! More is coming No time to type this **AN**, just leave your reviews and **PM's**! Off I go to continue writing for the next installment! Hope you enjoyed!

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


	12. Close Call!

**AN: **Huzzah! I made it! Though I literally have carpal tunnel and my wrist is rubbed raw from the edge of my laptop, I have kept my promise and pushed out the following chapter! I think I can pass out now and let my hands rest before the catch fire. But without further adieu, please enjoy this next long awaited chapter! And come thanks giving day (though I will be busy cooking) I will try my best to push out another chapter! Enjoy!

**Note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki

**Pairing(s): **Naruto/Sasuke **With:** Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Kimimaru, Suigetsu/Sasori.

**Warning(s): **Yaoi, lemon(s) in later chapters, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama & slight child abuse.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p><strong>Royalties<strong>

**Chapter Twelve**

**Close call!**

"You may enter." Naruto quirked up and answered towards the door and was none too surprised to have Genma enter first.

"Young lord, Sir Itachi and Deidara are here… per your request." Genma announced, though the ending was a fair bit sour and full of suspicion, but none the less he stepped aside granting them entrance after a nod of agreement came from the tanned prince, "I'll be just outside these doors should you need any further assistance." He added in a warning as clear as day before he closed the door behind him.

"To what do I owe this interruption of my time with Itachi here, hm?" The long haired blonde crossed his arms in mild agitation.

"Oh me, oh my! I am ever so sorry my dear cousin Deidara, never did I mean to impede on your previous merriment." Naruto feigned an apology and cow-toed on the bed towards the long hair blonde.

"Oi! Ya little shrimp—" Deidara growled and would flown over to tackle the young one, if not for a halting hand on his shoulder.

"Peace be still, Dei…" The long haired raven spoke, "Now, what is the meaning of this call?" He continued and eyed each young prince, lingering longer on his young brother.

"That question rest solely on Naruto, Itachi." Sasuke tilted his head towards the boy in question, whom immediately snapped his head around to glare at the short haired raven, after-all he was the one who suggested that Itachi and Deidara could assist them.

"Is that so?" Itachi smirked, "What mischief are you getting into now Naruto? I am certain that Lord Minato has ordered you and Gaara to rest for the day." He mentioned and looked between the blonde and red head.

"True as that may be, I and Gaara have given our word that we are fine. Never the less, there are still matters at hand that require our attention," Naruto spoke and slid to the edge of the bed to where Sasuke still sat, "that of which is the reason I called for you guy's… after Sasuke mentioned it of course." He continued and jabbed the raven in the side as payback.

"Hn, and the suspicion rises…" Deidara stated and narrowed his eyes at the action.

"Indeed." Neji and Sasuke both agreed.

"So what are you planning?" Itachi questioned as he crossed the room, followed closely by the long haired blonde, to the pair of seats by the window.

"W-well… we need both yours and Deidara's assistance in sneaking out of the castle tonight." Gaara spoke up with determination, though there was an underling fear within him, partly due to the fact that Itachi was now staring at him as though he had just grown a second head. The look that came across his face was something between confusion, skepticism and humor, however the look, rather the sound that came from the long haired blonde was nothing short of flagrant entertainment.

"Ahahah! You must be joking!" Deidara snickered and looked at the young princes from behind his one visible eye.

"Deidara…" Itachi called with a smirk on his lips as he was trying his best not to laugh at the absurd request.

"Hn, hn, hn…." Deidara covered his mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing and looked over to his cousin with a questioning look.

"Though you find humor in this, what we ask is true and of great importance." Naruto narrowed his eyes in something akin to a pout at his still snickering cousin.

"Of great importance?" Itachi tilted his head in honest curiosity, "what could be so important to have you all sneaking out and risking your lives? Be mindful that there are people whom would take advantage of you should they get their hands on either of you." He continued and gave each of the young ones a stern look, but what was said next took him by surprise.

"It's because our lives are in danger that Gaara and I have to do this…." Naruto mention just loud enough for everyone to hear, though his expression wore that he'd rather jump from atop the castle tops than to go on speaking and with a quick glance to his red head counterpart, he knew he felt the same as well.

"What?" The rest, excluding Gaara, said in unison, "Naruto, Gaara…" Itachi began to call out to them, but the choice of words seemed to stick in his throat. What was he to say? He dare not tell them that they are surrounded by those who would give their lives to protect them, because years ago when those words had their chance to be proven truthful, they had fallen flat… and because of that both boys nearly lost their lives at the hands of someone whom pledged their life to them, that person being Gaara in particular. So at this point, saying such words would do more harm than good, which turn caused him to fall silent on continuing with what he was to say.

"You're making close to no sense at all my dear cousin, hn, the pair of you are safest within the castle walls." Deidara ceased all hints of laughter and gave both boys a serious look.

"It's obvious that from todays…. Episode, we are not as safe as you think…. No matter where we are…." Gaara mentioned with his gaze to the floor, barely noting the squeeze on his shoulder.

"But… what happened today was the first time in a long time that you or Naruto have collapsed, surely…" Neji mentioned, but whatever else he was going to say was halted as the teal eyed boy threw him a pained look.

"It's happened more times than just this once that you all know of…." Naruto admitted, "Grandmother assumes it to be a triggering from exertion, over activities… but that's not the case… that I know." He continued and looked at the others albeit sheepishly.

"What makes you so sure that your lives are still at such a risk?" Sasuke spoke up this time with his eyes glued to the blue eyed boy next to him, noticing at how he seemed to stiffen at his words.

"…..When… when it happens… Gaara and I are with each other in a really dark void… sometimes it's, other times there is nothing but darkness…. but, they are always there… always…." Naruto spoke in a voice that was a million miles away.

"They?" The others pressed, looking hesitantly between both distant looking boys.

"The foxes…" Gaara answered as a flashback from years ago clouded before his eyes for a brief second, but long enough to make his stomach turn slightly. Not wanting to risk saying right way, for fear he might lose what little he had eaten today, he remained silent and mentally took in the heavy silence that filled the room. At the mere mention of the animals Naruto folded his arms around his stomach as it seemed to be summersaulting within him, though the action he made was duly noted by the keen eyes of the eldest Uchiha, who was the one to break the silence.

"Naruto… nothing, bad, happened during such times, correct?" Itachi inquired and silently noting on how both boys looked as though they were seconds away from becoming sick, especially Gaara.

"…. No…. not necessarily…. But this time was different…. They were so huge…" Naruto mentioned as unconsciously thought back to the sheer size of the animals.

"… and there was someone there this time… I… I think she saved us…." Gaara piped and furrowed his nonexistent brows.

"Enough with the suspense, this person, what did they do, hn? Did they say anything to you? Did they do anything to you? And these foxes…" Deidara shot up out of his seat in agitation.

"Deidara!" Itachi hissed up at the boisterous blonde, remembering that they were still being monitored outside and he knew that given the slightest hint at a disturbance Genma would quickly order them to leave.

"No Itachi! I can't and won't sit idly by and watch my cousin and the Suna boy look racked with such discomfort, hn!" Deidara spun around to regard the eldest Uchiha, who looked as though he was going to argue, but the weight of what was just said rang too true for him to argue against.

"It's okay, Deidara, Itachi," Naruto spoke and slid off the bed, "we didn't see her, but this woman said that she would be able to help us… from the foxes… and…. the people who put them in us…" Naruto said as he walked over to the two older boys.

"And how do you know that this woman is not looking to harm you both as well?" Itachi stood and placed a hand on the young prince.

"Because she said we, our family and friends, were in danger as well…" Gaara recovered enough to speak and looked at each pair of eyes in the room, which were now unsurprisingly now focused on him.

"…. And how does this woman know this?" Neji question after another brief moment of silence.

"Hn, now I get it, you guys want to find this person and find out for yourselves." Sasuke noted and leapt from the bed.

"But even so, just how are you going to find her?" Neji added and looked at both Naruto and Gaara, who was silently watching the scene in front of him.

"'_Through burlesque district, past the mason you shall find me….mirrors….'_" Naruto repeated the exact words that the voice had mentioned, "Deidara, surely our kingdom has such places, right?" He looked up to his cousin, but gave a confusing look as a slight blush crossed his face, only to disappear behind the section of hair that hung over his left eye.

"Y-yeah… I believe so…" The older blonde stammered and glanced over to the long haired raven, who was biting his lower lip in an attempt to hide the smirk threatening to break out across his face.

"Hn, I'm positive Itachi knows where to find such a place." Sasuke mentioned with a sly smirk towards his now wide eyed brother.

"Sasuke!" Itachi hissed and quickly crossed the space between them to put him in a headlock, "Never you all mind Sasuke," He continued and placed a hand over his resisting brother, "none the less, I have no objection to assisting you both, what say you Dei?" He spoke and regarded the long haired blonde.

"Of course I do not object, hn. Anything goes for the young prince's." Deidara smirked and kneeled before the tanned boy, who only proceeded to tackle him with a tight hug.

"Thank you Dei!" Naruto wriggled atop of his cousin.

"So when would be best a time to head out?" Gaara spoke gaining everyone's attention, before they all turned to Deidara, who was the best at knowing what the castle operations were during the night.

"Well, it will be no problem getting past the guards, hn," Deidara mentioned and lifted himself off the floor with Naruto now perched on his back, "There is a reason that you're resigned to this room Naruto… now, keep what I'm about to show you in this room, hn." He warned as he walked over to the fireplace and ducked low enough to where Naruto wouldn't hit his head and pointed out an unseen lever.

"What's that?" Naruto questioned, his voices echoing within the mantle.

"You'll find out tonight, if I showed you now our plans would be nulled by Genma, hn." Deidara mentioned as he removed themselves from the fireplace.

"By what hour are we to meet back here then?" Neji asked and looked over to the grandfather clock on the other side of the room as it tolled 5 O'clock, leaving only an hour before dinner began.

"…. You and Sasuke should be able to talk your way in to staying with these two tonight, so Itachi and I will come when the guards begin their rounds." Deidara nodded and lowered his cousin to the ground just as a knock came to the door, which cause everyone to snap their heads towards the door, only to relax as they saw who was entering the room.

"Now, now," Minato tsk'd as he entered the room, "what a large gathering we have here, hmm if I'm not mistaken, I allowed only two visitors, did I not?" He continued and playfully eyed the eldest boys in the room, however before they could even think to answer more guest entered the room.

"Gaara?" Karura entered from behind Minato with worried eyes.

"Mother!" Gaara quickly stood as his mother quickly made her way over to pull him into a tight embrace.

"My goodness, I am so sorry I couldn't be here sooner! Though I am all too relieved to see you two are well!" Karura sighed and looked to Naruto as well before standing.

"Indeed mother, as we both mention earlier, we are fine…. Just a bit tired." Gaara soothed his anxious looking mother, but quickly tacked on the rest as he saw his father now standing beside Minato.

"Hm, with such a crowd it will be impossible for you to rest," Akurei held a look of slight humor, "wouldn't you agree, Minato?" He regarded the blonde king.

"Ahah, what you say rings true my friend," Minato chuckled and looked towards the occupants of the room, "come now everyone, dinner will begin shortly, Naruto, Gaara, I'll be taking a word with you two." He continued while stepping aside to let the others out of the room and halted the two bed rest boys.

"What is it father?" Naruto placed himself before him with Gaara right beside him.

"I will leave it to you both to decide whether or not you wish to join the rest of us for dinner, it has indeed been a long day after all." Minato mentioned with Akurei nodding slightly from beside him.

"I feel fine enough to join the others father." Naruto grinned widely.

"I as well, I wish to join my friends for dinner." Gaara second and looked up to his father and was inwardly pleased to see no hint of refusal in his eyes.

"So be it, I shall see you both later." Akurei place a hand on both boys' heads before exiting the room.

"Now that that's settled, I'll leave Ayame to assist you with preparing for dinner." Minato grinned down at the two seemingly in better spirited boys' and motioned for the young woman to enter the room, "Oh and Gaara, don't let my son cause you to be late." He finished with a comical wink at his son, who proceeded to stick his tongue out at the attempt to insult. Once he was out of the room, both boys' were ushered into the large bathroom by Ayame and quickly dressed down to bathe, though both boys' wanted to discuss the plans for tonight, they resisted the urge due to not only Ayame standing by the bathroom door, but Genma was standing just on the other side as well, so they dare not to risk even muttering about it. As they finished their ministrations in the bathroom, they were then ushered into Naruto's massive closet, where a few simple articles of Gaara's clothes had been placed, they went through the normal process of being dressed, Naruto having decided to go with something simple as well. Which left him to ponder something as the 6 o'clock bell tolled and they were being led down to the dining hall, if they were to be sneaking out and roaming about the kingdom, they would need to be as inconspicuous as possible and considering the fact that every article of clothing he wore was adorned with his family insignia on it, would make in next to impossible not to be noticed, and that was just factoring in getting through the family settlement that covered the front of the castle, not even taking into consideration of the outer kingdom. However, the blonde's pondering would have to be put on hold as the made their way into the dining room, where all eyes snapped towards the boys' entrance.

As dinner concluded without a hitch, too Naruto's inward surprise, seeing as how neither of his visiting friends questioned his nor Gaara's health, though he knew that the reason being must have been due to his father telling them that they were indeed fine and not to question them about it for whatever reasons why. Never the less, both Naruto and Gaara were actually relieved that they were not subjected to any further questioning about their health, seeing as how they had a hard enough time trying to convince their parents that they were indeed fine, however shocking the incident may have been…. But then again, they honestly couldn't fault them for being concerned. Even so, as they were now being led back to Naruto's room, he couldn't help but to continue thinking on how they could conceal their signs of royalty, even Gaara's clothing bore the Suna family crest, and seeing as how both Sasuke and Neji were to be accompanying them as well, they too had to figure out a way to conceal their family's insignia as well, which like all Naruto, was etched on every piece of clothing they owned. Though, once the two boys' were once again left to rest in the blondes' room, they were finally able to discuss the matter soon at hand.

"Gaara, I was wondering, when we set out… what will we wear?" Naruto questioned as the pair of them were situated in the middle of the huge bed.

"Heh, I had been thinking the same, though this is your kingdom, surely there are those who will recognize my family crest." Gaara nodded and poked at the crest on the arm of his blouse.

"Sheesh, who knew that sneaking out needed such preparation!" Naruto exasperated and fell back on his bed.

"I would guess it's because we are of royalty, I doubt if children in any village wanted to sneak out, they'd simply have to wait for their parents to retire for the night." Gaara snickered lightly and looked out the window to the twinkling lights of the kingdom.

"…. Say, Gaara… Have you ever wondered what it would be like to not be of nobility?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence and turned to look at his red head friend.

"When I was younger I never gave it much though… but, after what happened to us… I find myself thinking about it quite often these days." Gaara said solemnly and then looked down to his blonde counterpart, "after-all, if we weren't…. there would be no need in sneaking out tonight." He continued with apparent meaning, which Naruto knew was all too true. If they weren't of nobility, they wouldn't be targets as they were… but even so, Naruto couldn't help but to ponder further on that incident.

"Even though that's true… you think… maybe what happened to us, still would've happened? After all, they we after the youngest they knew…." Naruto mentioned quietly, which led to an even longer silence as Gaara took what he said in to chronic seriousness and after a few minutes of silence, finally spoke.

"…. You're right…. Who knows… maybe nobility means nothing and it was just fated." Gaara mentioned and pulled his knees to his chest and looked towards the crackling fireplace as the clocked tolled time of 9 O'clock.

"Hmph, then it seems as though we have to fight fate." Naruto grinned and yanked Gaara down, successfully breaking the clouding thoughts creeping into his mind.

"Heh, right," Gaara smiled at his blue eyed friend, "even so, I don't regret being born to nobility, because it has given me such great friends." He continued and as if on cue, there came a knock on the main door.

"Enter!" Naruto called to the door, already knowing who it was given the time.

"Young Lord, permission has been granted to allow you two company tonight." Genma stated as he stepped into the room followed closely by both Neji and Sasuke, whom were now in there nightly attire, "I'll be making my rounds now Young Lords, if you are in need of assistance, please use the calling system. I'll be taking my leave now." He continued with a bow before heading back out the room.

"Subtle much?" Sasuke glared at the now closed door before making his way over to the bed with Neji in tow.

"Heh, it's becoming a habit for him, I wonder why he always mentions it when you're in the vicinity." Neji smirked at the pale raven as they both mounted the bed, though all he received was a very Uchiha like glare, to which he was immune.

"So Sasuke, you hear anything from Itachi?" Naruto quirked and slid over the raven, with Gaara doing the same thing but towards Neji.

"Nothing more, he's been preoccupied with father ever since dinner. My best guess is that he's being dragged into the preparations for the winter ball." Sasuke shrugged and relaxed back onto his forearms.

"Sounds like fun." Gaara noted with a smirk, "Speaking of preparations, Naruto and I were just taking something into consideration… what are we going to wear when we sneak out?" He questioned the pair of them.

"I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one whom thought of this hurdle," Neji nodded, "even the simplest of my clothing here have my families crest on it, I take it because I'm away from my Kingdom." He pointed out with good reason.

"Likewise, but this is indeed something we need to discuss with Itachi and Deidara once they get here." Sasuke agreed and looked towards the time, though it was still early into the guards rounds, it was time for them to retire for the night as well.

"Hmm, do you think we should try to get some sleep before we head out?" Naruto suggested.

"Hn, I think that's a good idea, they'll wake us once they get here." Sasuke nodded and added to it by yawning.

"Indeed it has been a long day, a few hours of sleep would do us all some good, especially Gaara and Naruto." Neji cosigned and slung an arm around the always sleep deprived red head.

"I'll agree with sleep this once…" Gaara rolled his eyes and yawned, followed by Naruto whom had been looking at him and caught the yawning as well.

"Then it is agreed," Naruto crawled to the head of the bed and slid under the thick comforter, closely followed by the raven as Neji and Gaara did the same. As they all settled in for the time being, neither of the boys thought nothing of it as they cuddled into each other, Naruto resting in Sasuke's arms and Gaara to Neji's, though to what they would use as a possible excuse later Naruto watched with heavy lids as the fire began to dim which in turn he knew would leave the room to cool down, and considering that it was now snowing heavily outside the room would cool much fast, so with that thought the blonde turned to bury his face in the soft fabric of the ravens shirt. However, as he drifted off to sleep from listening to Sasuke's heartbeat, he felt the same growing warmth in his stomach from the previous day when he and the raven were in the pool and their escapades, to which the sheer thought caused his heart to beat faster and the heat in his stomach to grow. Though as he felt himself drift into sleep, he was oddly aware that he was sleep, however, he felt as though he was seeing things from a third person point of view, as he was watching his hands pull up the ravens shirt slightly before quickly disappearing down his trousers, which caused the raven to softly jolt awake.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice sounded a bit muffled, to which the blonde wasn't concerned about at the current moment. No, what he was concerned about was why his body was acting on its own and touching Sasuke in such a way, and try as he might to stop, he was not in control of his body as he watched as though he was on the other side of a mirror.

"_Shhh…"_ The sound sounded a bit odd as it passed through the blondes' lips, _"you'll wake Neji and Kea—"_ He continued but stopped halfway on whatever else he was to say and this time Naruto knew that the voice was not his and only hoped that Sasuke would realize as well, however that was a crushed thought as soon as the view changed to where Naruto was now looking into the ravens once onyx eye, once being that they were now red and fixed.

"As you wish." Sasuke agreed to some unspoken command and before Naruto could see anything, he felt a hand reach into his trousers and wrap around his surprisingly hard member.

"_Good boy…"_ The voice passed through his lips again and as quickly as the words were said, they quickly clamped onto the ravens lips in a forceful kiss, nothing like the ones they had played with before. No, this one was burning and from where Naruto was on the other side of the looking glass, he felt like he was losing a long awaited battle, it was as though a dream he once had was now coming true and he was powerless to stop it. His hands continued to stroke up and down on the ravens' hot muscle and the hot panting coming from him to the nape of his neck was enough to drive him insane as the raven continued his ministrations on his throbbing member as well, making the heat in his stomach grow even hotter. But before Naruto could even catch the motion, Sasuke had disappeared from the sight he was given, but a sight he saw now sent his jaw dropping to the floor, he was looking at Gaara… though he knew it wasn't Gaara as he looked into eyes from the past that were black with yellow irises, and Gaara was looking into eyes that were glowing a fiery red as Neji had dipped below the comforter just as the raven had, and seemingly at the same time both the raven and the brunette wrapped their lips around the two out of body boys. Inwardly they were both at a loss as of what to do, but the sensation from it left them in a state of euphoria that they'd never known, as both entranced boys' continued to lick and suck from the base to the tip of them, a rational part of Naruto and Gaara knew that this wasn't right, but try as they might the sensation filling them felt as though it was pinning them to the void they were in.

"_Such good friends, don't you think?"_ The voice that spoke now came from Gaara, but the voice was past the point of odd and harsh to the ears.

"_Indeed, it seems like sleep is these brats weakness."_ The voice that came from Naruto earlier spoke again, a deep and angry sounding voice. Both boys' were beside themselves with fear as they realized what was happening, somehow… the spirits inside of them had gained control and we acting out things they'd unknowingly dreamed.

"_Haa, Neji is very skilled."_ The voice came from Gaara again, and from within the red head clamped his head in pain as heat engulfed his mind and willed himself to wake up or do whatever possible to regain control over himself.

"_As is Sasuke…"_ The voice from Naruto hissed and gripped a handful of the raven hair and the burning in his stomach grew to the point of pain, and as Naruto mentally wrapped his arms around himself in pain, a silent scream passed his lips, _"These brats are putting up a fight, how irritating…"_ The voice from Naruto hissed again.

"_Heheheheh, don't you like Neji? You've dreamed for this so long."_ The irritating voice coming from Gaara spoke to him, inwardly Gaara squeezed his eye tighter as the heat in his head grew to greater heights, refusing to look at the brunette looking up at him from beneath the comforter with yellow piercing eyes, who was now slowly and purposefully dragging his tongue up the length of his weeping muscle.

"_Hey brat, you to dream of Sasuke doing this, you two already kiss… he's just kissing other parts of you now. Heheh."_ The deep and menacing voice came from the blonde again, at which Naruto shook his head as the sight of Sasuke looking up at him pierced him to the core, even more so as he kissed the tip of his pulsing member, which cause him to fall onto his knees in the void. But before Naruto or Gaara could do anything else, the clock in the room tolled the hour of 12 O'clock, which shocked them both as they realized 3 hours had passed since they'd fallen into this nightmare.

"_Dammit… so close!"_ The grating voice coming from Gaara cursed as the coil in his gut began loosening.

"_We wasted our time teasing these brats…."_ The voice hissed from Naruto again, and to Naruto's relief, the burning in his stomach seemed to quickly dissipate and before he realized Neji was lying next to Gaara, and before he could note anything different about the two, Sasuke obstructed his view and to his great relief his eyes were back to their deep onyx as they slowly closed. It was just then as Naruto and Gaara both came back to themselves, the door to the room slowly creaked open before quietly closing again as two figures glided over to the bed and towered over the two numb boys.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>*cough cough* w-well... dont kill me, I beg of you! I had no intention on giving you all a cliffhanger after such a long time! But... eh-heheh. But seriously, I must thank those who **PM'd** me and those whom have stuck with this story, even after its hiatus! I love you all berry much! And hey, you may be mad, but no hurtful replies or I will getcha! *epic wink* Mata ne min'na!

**Please note: **Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki


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